Referee quirks

chupacabra

Just wondered if anyone else notices some of the little quirks of each referee that make them somewhat unique in certain aspects? Maybe im just OCD about things like this but every ref has his own little thing he does that I repeatedly pick up on as being unique to them.
For example Allain Rollands penchant to ROAR "MAAUUUUULLL!" in that rusty irish voice of his when most other referees would simply call "maul" calmly to the players. Nigel Owens saying "move it or lose it" after the "use it" calls in a maul. Craig Jouberts scrum calling used to make me smile as he always made it sound so intense on the engage. The way he would say engage was as if he was ordering a fighter pilot to take down an enemy aircraft. He doesnt do that anymore though. Mark Lawrence and his incessant running backwards, Nigel Owen's flamboyant final whistles, Spreaders who I really miss... that man had more quirks than i care to remember and of course Steve Walsh who is one big walking quirk :pac:

vinny chase

The commentators said yesterday morning during the England game that the English pack had been listening to recordings of Bryce Lawrence saying "Crouch-Touch-Pause-Engage" so they could get used to the timing of his cadence for engagements!

Actually thought it was quite clever when I heard it!

handsomecake

vinny chase wrote: »

The commentators said yesterday morning during the England game that the English pack had been listening to recordings of Bryce Lawrence saying "Crouch-Touch-Pause-Engage" so they could get used to the timing of his cadence for engagements!

Actually thought it was quite clever when I heard it!

he takes forever and the way he says touch grinds my gears.

Taco Corp

Steve Walsh has the quirk of looking really smug.

phog

Nigel Owens never points to the posts to indicate the team/kicker has opted to kick a penalty.

CIARAN_BOYLE

vinny chase wrote: »

The commentators said yesterday morning during the England game that the English pack had been listening to recordings of Bryce Lawrence saying "Crouch-Touch-Pause-Engage" so they could get used to the timing of his cadence for engagements!

Actually thought it was quite clever when I heard it!

What about those refs that mess around with the the cadence. They don't all manage a uniform cadence.

Clever idea though.

vinny chase

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

What about those refs that mess around with the the cadence. They don't all manage a uniform cadence.

Clever idea though.

Yeah, was thinking that. There are a couple out there who are annoyingly inconsistent with the cadence.

Jawgap

vinny chase wrote: »

Yeah, was thinking that. There are a couple out there who are annoyingly inconsistent with the cadence.

Maybe they do it deliberately to make sure the scrums are paying attention and to prevent them anticipating the "engage"?

vinny chase

Jawgap wrote: »

Maybe they do it deliberately to make sure the scrums are paying attention and to prevent them anticipating the "engage"?

For me, that wouldn't make sense. If they were simply consistent in their application of the call then neither side could have any complaints.

In fact, by changing and varying the cadence from time to time, teams, especially weaker scrummaging outfits, would be more inclined to attempt and jump the shout and get the advantage.

Taco Corp

phog wrote: »

Nigel Owens never points to the posts to indicate the team/kicker has opted to kick a penalty.

He also signals a "four" when a drop goal is wide

kensutz

I was talking to an IRB ref who said not to tell the front rows your timing from the pause to the engage. He said that if you do tell them, then you run the risk of both teams trying to beat the call. The advice I was given was when speaking to the front rows tell them that once their heads aren't bobbing up and down and from side to side then you can proceed to the engage. So far in preseason it's working a treat to do it that way.

vinny chase

kensutz wrote: »

I was talking to an IRB ref who said not to tell the front rows your timing from the pause to the engage. He said that if you do tell them, then you run the risk of both teams trying to beat the call. The advice I was given was when speaking to the front rows tell them that once their heads aren't bobbing up and down and from side to side then you can proceed to the engage. So far in preseason it's working a treat to do it that way.

I'm not suggesting a ref tells the front rows the timing of the call, but I think in this area, like every other area of a referee's performance, player's just ask for consistency.

yimrsg

Roman Poite taking an eternity to say:

Crotch ....
Tutch ....
Pawse ....
.....
Engage!

ambid

yimrsg wrote: »

Roman Poite taking an eternity to say:

Crotch ....
Tutch ....
Pawse ....
.....
Engage!

Poite also whispers "pause" much more softly than the other words:

Crotch ....
Tutch ....
(Pawse ....)
.....
Engage!

chupacabra

Wayne Barnes says "arrive up" to the team in possession at any ruck that is being contested