Rugby Referees

TheTMO

Nigel Owens just posted this on his facebook regarding the O'Leary tackle on Healy.

says in regard to the TMO post, I meant I should have stuck with the knock on as it was outside protocol to go to the TMO I saw it as a fair tackle at the time. But after seeing it again I should have given a Penalty Try and yellow card. If the tackle had happened anywhere else then just a Penalty as there is no intent , but in this case it did stop a probable try being scored.

Have to say, he holds his hands up when he gets decisions wrong. In my opinion the best ref in the game and a complete gent by all acounts off the field.

Who do you think are some of the best and worst refs?

toomevara

Keep this civil, not an excuse to abuse refs. Nor is it an excuse to dredge up and rehash old incidents on the field in a tribal way.

shawpower

TheTMO wrote: »

Nigel Owens just posted this on his facebook regarding the O'Leary tackle on Healy.

says in regard to the TMO post, I meant I should have stuck with the knock on as it was outside protocol to go to the TMO I saw it as a fair tackle at the time. But after seeing it again I should have given a Penalty Try and yellow card. If the tackle had happened anywhere else then just a Penalty as there is no intent , but in this case it did stop a probable try being scored.

Have to say, he holds his hands up when he gets decisions wrong. In my opinion the best ref in the game and a complete gent by all acounts off the field.

Who do you think are some of the best and worst refs?

I agree he's a great ref. He doesn't get every decision right, as shown by that incident, but he's consistent in his calls, communicates very well to the players, and will hold his hand up and admit an error afterwards.

I'd have him up there in the top two with Alain Rolland, who is another great ref. It's just a pity that we can never get to experience it with Leinster/Ireland. :rolleyes:

Other good refs are probably Craig Joubert, Alan Lewis and perhaps Wayne Barnes. Barnes has a bad rep, stemming mainly from the RWC match between NZ and France, but he's not that bad. Kaplan isn't bad either. Locally, I think the guy from the north is pretty good, but his name escapes me now. Blonde chap.

On the bad side, we've plenty to think about when you look at the ML. I think Fitzgibbon is pretty poor, as is the terrible James Jones. Further afield I think Berdos is appalling, primarily because of his poor English. Seeing him try to explain a problem to an English speaking ref, when he's running the touch, is appalling. Think it happened in the Lions (maybe when Luke got gouged??). Some of his decisions are iffy too. Not mad on Bryce Lawrence either.

Digifriendly

On a related note why cannot someone like Alain Rolland referee e.g. Leinster vs Munster? Surely a referee as good as he is would not be biased toward the province he's associated with? Wonder if Nigel Owens who referees matches between Welsh regions is excluded from refereeing the region he's linked to?

shawpower

I'd agree, but I guess the fact that Rolland played for Leinster means it's even more open to people complaining of bias etc.

molloyjh

I've always had a lot of time for Owens, and while I reckoned he got that call wrong I never thought it anything but an honest mistake. Fair play to him for posting that on Facebook. I've even more time for him now for it.

pappyodaniel

Owens is up there with the best, my pecking order would be our boys Rolland/Lewis and then Owens. It's very rare any of these guys make an error and when they do they are the first to admit it. Pick a name out of a hat containing ANY ML ref and you will find a referee who is error-strewn. I'm not saying it's an easy job but if I was writing a report card on ML referees, at the bottom it would say "must try harder" "D"

I have endless respect for Rolland, the man just has everything you need in a referee. Confidence, ability, consistency and respect. He is a model pro ref, and hopefully will be a top level ref for years and years to come.

I remember he refereed the first round match in the Leinster School's Senior Cup match that my brother was playing in, the crowd all started chanting his name when he came onto the pitch at the start. Was fantastic to think that the man who had refereed the last World Cup final was humble enough to referee a schoolboy's game.

He didn't put a foot wrong that day either!

BoarHunter

toomevara wrote: »

Keep this civil, not an excuse to abuse refs. Nor is it an excuse to dredge up and rehash old incidents on the field in a tribal way.

I won't make any comment on Nigel Owens so

Dave Joyce

Barnes has a bad rep, stemming mainly from the RWC match between NZ and France, but he's not that bad.

You must be joking, I think he's a dreadful ref, especially after the recent Connacht game against Toulon. Bear in mind I thought he made some poor calls against BOTH sides.

corny

Nigel doesn't know what offside is but still i think he's an excellent ref. Tries to let the game flow as much possible and he's a great a ref if conditions are bad. In contrast you've someone like Kaplan who gets bogged down reffing the minutia IMO.

Everyone makes mistakes and it was obvious he got the decision wrong but still fair play to him for the admission.

thomond2006

Nigel Owens just updated his facebook:

says in regard to the TMO post, I meant I should have stuck with the knock on as it was outside protocol to go to the TMO I saw it as a fair tackle at the time. But after seeing it again I should have given a Penalty Try and yellow card. If the tackle had happened anywhere else then just a Penalty as there is no intent , but in this case it did stop a probable try being scored.

duckysauce

shawpower wrote: »

I agree he's a great ref. He doesn't get every decision right, as shown by that incident, but he's consistent in his calls, communicates very well to the players, and will hold his hand up and admit an error afterwards.

I'd have him up there in the top two with Alain Rolland, who is another great ref. It's just a pity that we can never get to experience it with Leinster/Ireland. :rolleyes:

Other good refs are probably Craig Joubert, Alan Lewis and perhaps Wayne Barnes. Barnes has a bad rep, stemming mainly from the RWC match between NZ and France, but he's not that bad. Kaplan isn't bad either. Locally, I think the guy from the north is pretty good, but his name escapes me now. Blonde chap.

On the bad side, we've plenty to think about when you look at the ML. I think Fitzgibbon is pretty poor, as is the terrible James Jones. Further afield I think Berdos is appalling, primarily because of his poor English. Seeing him try to explain a problem to an English speaking ref, when he's running the touch, is appalling. Think it happened in the Lions (maybe when Luke got gouged??). Some of his decisions are iffy too. Not mad on Bryce Lawrence either.

Wayne Barnes :pac:

chupacabra

I reckon Mark Lawrence is one of the best in the world right now.

shawpower

Dave Joyce wrote: »

You must be joking, I think he's a dreadful ref, especially after the recent Connacht game against Toulon. Bear in mind I thought he made some poor calls against BOTH sides.

Different people have different opinions, based normally on their experience of a referee officiating at a game their team played in. If the calls went against that team, the ref is tarnished in their eyes.

I accept that Barnes, as well as lots of other refs, make mistakes but I do think that he's one of the better refs out there.

durkadurka

Am I the only one who thinks Jones is vastly underrated?















I'm joking...... I'm joking.....

TheTMO

thomond2006 wrote: »

Nigel Owens just updated his facebook:

Eh....Thomond......Did you even read my opening post.....

thomond2006

TheTMO wrote: »

Eh....Thomond......Did you even read my opening post.....

fifth

Anyone else added Owens on facebook? He's sent me a few messages privately back and forth chattin bout rugby and stuff - dunno how he finds the time!