The Vodacom United Rugby Championship will follow a much more unique interactive system between referees and coaches rather than the top-down draconian process that World Rugby have in place for their test matches.
Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour was overshadowed by coaches trying to get points across in the media, thanks to a decision by World Rugby that meetings with referees could only take place if both coaches were present. World Rugby also limited coaches in test matches to querying only five clips per game through the sport’s Athlete Management System (AMS) where the interactions are normally held.
This decision was handed down without consultation by World Rugby and saw frustration from both the Springboks, All Blacks and other coaches in terms of trying to understand law interpretations. Italy’s coach Gonzalo Quesada was banned for one test when he spoke out about decisions in his side’s loss to New Zealand in July.
Some of the discussions out of the RGR tour came straight from that frustration with the All Blacks in particular trying to enforce a narrative on the test series, and led to one particular outburst from Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus in frustration after the win in the second test in Cape Town.
REFRESHING APPROACH
In contrast, the URC adopts a much more structured, open approach, thanks to its head of referees, Tappe Henning, who likes to encourage work between coaches and referees to improve the overall product, and it is a refreshing look at the way the two parts of rugby can interact.
That is not to say that there are not likely to be frustration or teething problems, but Henning manages the process through his office and it is likely to work a lot better than World Rugby’s top-down approach.
Coaches in the URC are free to meet with referees before and after any game in the league, as long as it is co-ordinated through Henning’s office.
“They can give eight individual clips before the game and eight clips after the game to receive clarity on decisions. We support communication between coaches and referees and not with a third person in between," Henning pointed out in a media call ahead of the sixth URC season.
“Both coaches don’t have to be present, and meetings will be organised by request. Coaches know it has to come to my desk by 12pm on a Wednesday and a meeting will be done on a Teams call and must be finished at least 48 hours before kickoff.”
Henning later clarified why the URC had taken a very different approach to World Rugby - and it is mainly because of the “variety of experience” among the match officials.
“We think allowing it in our competition is good because we have a variety of experience among the referees in our tournament, and we also have a strong development strand to the way we handle our referees. We think that it is useful for coaches to talk to them and share their knowledge and thinking of the game, and that interaction is food for the game.
“Broadening our game knowledge can only be positive and when a referee shares his view with coaches, that feedback is good for the game. It is always good to build relationships when you are working on the same product.”
Henning underlined that point, saying coaches and referees were working to deliver a product to the public and not talking would undermine that.
“Coaches and referees work together on the same product and we have to deliver that product to the rugby public. By not talking the product suffers,” Henning explained.
“I like to compare it to a car company’s production line. If certain parts of the production line are not communicating, then the product will suffer. We like to work together and drive that interaction between refs and coaches. That is not to influence referees; the referee will still referee what is in front of him, but rather to give clarity on what he expects. We talk to front row players in the changeroom before the game to clarify aspects and this process does the same.”
The URC season kicks off next weekend with Ireland’s Leinster as the defending champions.