Vodacom United Rugby Championship head of referee Tappe Henning has warned players about going overboard on challenging referees decisions, saying it will be punished.
The URC is gearing up for its playoff rounds and there have been complaints from teams about players - especially those from Irish provinces - consistently challenging referees and asking for reviews of potential head contact.
Henning has spoken to the teams and passed on a warning that while the captain may approach the referee alone if he wants to raise an issue, the rest of the team cannot shout, or challenge the referee on any aspect of the game.
It is understood that referees have told the teams that if this happens, they will come down hard on them and that teams will be marched back 10 metres if a referee feels this is too much.
“It is becoming excessive,” Henning said during a URC media briefing. “We do not want to go into a zero-tolerance approach, but if it does not improve we will get to a point where we apply zero tolerance.”
“The referee will try to manage it early in the game and request the captain to take control of his players. What we definitely do not want is four or five players surrounding the referee.”
RUGBY DOESN’T WANT TO GO FOOTBALL’S ROUTE
Football is well known for ugly referee challenges and rugby doesn’t want to follow the same route. For this reason the teams have been briefed about it and told that they will be punished if it becomes excessive.
URC officials are known to be worried about the uptake of challenges, particularly from players in Ireland, at referee decisions and players trying to get referees to do head contact reviews that will give a team an advantage through a yellow card.
“We understand disappointment and frustration from players, but if the referee draws the line in the sand, we expect players to respect that. That will be one of our discussions tonight to ensure our playoffs remain a spectacle,” Henning said.
Henning added that officials wanted to have a good relationship with the captains.
“We've seen that players are now aware of the system that's in place and there is a facility that can be looked at after the incident has happened. And that's why the players are asking for more reviews,” he explained.
PLAYERS WANT FAIRNESS
“And it's not trying to really influence the referee to change a decision. But the players want fairness and that's their effort that they bring to the field. Being aware of the technology that is available.
“That is why that is probably increased. At the start of the season we had an agreement between the clubs and us as URC match officials, which is aligned to what World Rugby wants us to do, is to allow a captain to ask a question to the referee when it's relevant and at an appropriate time without stopping the game to inquire about the decision. And the referee will answer.
“And if the referee is not aware of the incident that he's referring to, the referee will ensure the captain that all incidents are being scrutinized in the background. And if action is required, the TMO will make him aware. There's also boundaries within that.
“If the referee believes that the captain is at every time the whistle goes, the captain approaches him, the referee will draw the line in the sand. We've had enough. We cannot have this every time in a very nice, appropriate manner, in an amicable way, get a better understanding of when the captain can approach him.
CAPTAINS OK, MORE PLAYERS AREN’T
“We don't want to show captains away. What's irritating is there's four or five different players from a team. That will definitely not be allowed. But a good relationship between a captain and a match official helps with the management of the game and helps with the management of the team. So we support that. But we do have the boundaries of when and how the captain can approach the referee when it is appropriate.
“So there is an agreement between the teams and the coaches to accommodate that in our game. And that contributes to a better cohesion between match officials and the players on the field. So messages can be relayed to players or to teams through their captain.
“And we as match officials do our very best to accommodate the captains when there is substance to the question. And we try to understand the question and answer what the need of the captain is at the time. And then if we do not have that, we will ensure the captain that it will be scrutinised without asking. It is being scrutinised in the background.”
Henning added that the referees were looking at “smart” management of games, and not penalising every single infringement.
“If there’s an opportunity to tell a player, ‘Leave the ball now’, and the ball becomes available, we try to do that,” he said.
“That’s part of the art of refereeing, understanding when to manage, when to play advantage and when to penalise immediately.
“We are not trying to coach players. We are trying to contribute to continuity where a very minor infringement has little impact on play.”