In-depth look at refereeing standards

[Puja]

https://12ft.io/proxy?ref=&q=https://ww ... e-answers/

Really interesting article shadowing Christophe Ridley and examining how the elite refereeing panel are assessed and improve themselves as a group.

Puja

[fivepointer]

Excellent. I was aware of just how professional the top refs in England have been for a few years but this is illuminating. Just shows what a demanding job it is. With so much data, time to prepare and expertise on hand a ref can still make a bad call.

[Which Tyler]

Thank you.
Also going to read the first one, and see if I can find tomorrow's and Friday's once out

[Puja]

Excellent. I was aware of just how professional the top refs in England have been for a few years but this is illuminating. Just shows what a demanding job it is. With so much data, time to prepare and expertise on hand a ref can still make a bad call.

I wonder if other nations' refereeing panels do similar levels of work. The dominance of English refs on the RWC panel suggests probably not, although I think we are lucky to have such a big group who can work with each other to improve (and, of course, Barnes there at the pinnacle to drive up standards and pass on learning).

Puja

[Oakboy]

Fascinating to me was the extent to which referees disagree on interpretation - initially anyway. Ridley's comment about a decision being easy to explain to other refs but not to DORs also made me think. Maybe somebody needs to go through the laws and look at the language used. When such a good system as the article describes spends its time ironing out differences in interpretation together with communication issues, maybe the lawmakers need to concentrate on clarity of wording more. I'm not suggesting for a second that there is an easy fix but I wonder if less legaIise and more everyday language would help.

[FKAS]

Excellent. I was aware of just how professional the top refs in England have been for a few years but this is illuminating. Just shows what a demanding job it is. With so much data, time to prepare and expertise on hand a ref can still make a bad call.

Refs are still human, just like any player can drop a pass any ref can miss something happening at high speed.

[Gloskarlos]

https://12ft.io/proxy?ref=&q=https://ww ... e-answers/

Really interesting article shadowing Christophe Ridley and examining how the elite refereeing panel are assessed and improve themselves as a group.

Puja

Fascinating - thanks.

I've just qualified as a ref, the course itself was good and enjoyable. The language used is an issue or perhaps more of a sticking point, which I don't think is necessarily helped by commentators using metaphors that they think the public like. For instance, truck and trailer, commonly known as a rugby term is not in the law book, the sanction is 'obstruction' so no referee should or would ever say 'truck and trailer' there are dozens of others but if the language used was common I think that would help. I will look out for the other articles too.

[Which Tyler]

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fw ... iership%2F

Part 3

[16th man]

Excellent. I was aware of just how professional the top refs in England have been for a few years but this is illuminating. Just shows what a demanding job it is. With so much data, time to prepare and expertise on hand a ref can still make a bad call.

Refs are still human, just like any player can drop a pass any ref can miss something happening at high speed.

No one should be too critical at high speed as you say.

The problems are really highlighted when they get another go with slo mo and multiple angles and still talk absolute nonsense to justify a wrong decision.

[Cameo]

I also wonder about the danger of preconceptions brought up in the article. It is responded to as follows:

“If a tighthead the week before fell on his knee on five or six scrums, we would use that information to have a strategy of how to deal with it, rather than expect it to happen again. We would talk to him before the game, too, and explain what we’ve seen and that it might need to be a little bit better this week.”

If a scrum goes down in that game, isn't there a risk that the ref assumes it is the same tighthead again?

Incidentally, I'm with Ridley on the scrumhalf point (without having seen the clip obviously). If there is no one else at a ruck, I don't think the 9 should be able to stop the other team from rucking over it just by standing there kind of, but not quite, engaged in the ruck.