Allan Massie: Referees make mistakes but don’t besmirch them with accusations of bias

IT WILL be a shame if this World Cup, with its splendid final, is remembered chiefly for arguments over the refereeing.

International referees must, of course, be subject to criticism. They are all now professionals, and quite well-paid ones. On the other hand, we should all recognise that the laws of rugby are so confoundedly complicated, with so many possible penalty offences, that it is impossible that referees should not make some mistakes. If these seem more frequent than they used to, this is probably because TV replays, in real time and slow motion, mean that the referee’s decisions are scrutinised more intensely than ever.

What seems to me unacceptable is the accusation of bias that is sometimes levelled. I have no doubt that all international referees try to be even-handed. One of the more absurd criticisms that has been made concerned the appointment of Alain Rolland to referee the quarter-final between France and Wales. Rolland is an Irishman, and former Irish international scrum-half, with a French father (who was, I believe, a chef in Dublin). It was his decision to send the Welsh captain Sam Warburton off which led some to say that his French ancestry made him an unsuitable referee for that match. Actually the opposite is true. For too long, and too often, French – and Italian and Argentine – teams have suffered from English-speaking referees who have not taken the trouble to learn even the 20 or 30 most common rugby phrases which would allow them to explain their decisions to players who don’t speak English.

The IRB will soon be considering revision of the laws, especially those relating to the set scrum and the breakdown. No doubt improvements are possible, but they should be aware of the danger of another law coming into play: the law of unintended consequences. One suggestion has been aired this week: that the tackler, who is already required to roll away, should not be permitted to play the ball until a third player has played it – that is, someone other than the tackler himself or the tackled player. This would undoubtedly make the referee’s task easier. Unfortunately, it would reduce the chance of a turnover. Is that desirable? Surely not.

Meanwhile, for a few weeks our attention can focus on domestic rugby. Edinburgh and Glasgow should both benefit from the gradual return of their World Cup players. Their rivals are admittedly in the same position, but, in general, the Welsh and Irish teams have greater reserve strength. When Edinburgh played the Scarlets a couple of weeks ago, four members of their pack were aged 21 or less. No wonder they were well beaten. Both Scottish teams need a couple of good wins before they engage in Heineken action, and both sides’ selections looked much stronger for this week’s games, though it’s odd that Lee Jones, having been named Edinburgh‘s Player of the Month on Wednesday, should have been omitted from the squad announced on Thursday. Simon Webster, who replaced him, has been a fine player for Edinburgh, but one can’t help thinking he represents the past of Scottish rugby, while Jones and his age-group represent the future.

On the club scene, even members of other Borders clubs (except perhaps Melrose) may be pleased to see Gala sitting at the top of the first division. They’ve been in the doldrums for years now, too long for a club with their history. I doubt if they’ve been where they are now since Jim Aitken was captaining them, and their voracious back-row, with players such as David Leslie, Gordon Dickson and that finest of uncapped Scottish flankers, Jock Berthinussen, was roaming the field. Their coach, George Graham, took a step down from the professional game to put things to rights at Netherdale, where he is very evidently doing a tremendous job.

Premier Two is topsy-turvy, except for Stewarts-Melville, who sit serenely and undefeated at the top of the table. Everybody else is beating everybody else. One went down to Philiphaugh in some apprehension last Saturday for the game with Jed-Forest. Jed had thumped Kelso who, in turn, thumped Selkirk – by the distressing margin of 33 points. So what happened? Selkirk won comfortably, while the same afternoon Kelso went to Biggar, who had lost to Selkirk, and were themselves thumped.

Finally, given the difficulty that our national team have in scoring tries, especially when camped in the opposition 22, the backs should be set down to watch the video of Selkirk’s first try against Jed. In just that position, the 19-year-old fly-half, Rory Banks, threaded a grubber kick delightfully between the on-rushing centres, allowing the remarkable Fraser Harkness to outpace everyone and dive on the ball.

It was a great rugby league-style try. The message is that you don’t always have to seek to barge through the defence. You can slip the ball past them and score. The All Blacks know this of course. So do the French and so does Brian O’Driscoll.

Perhaps we’ll learn that this is one way of scoring tries before the Six Nations comes round.