Magners must do better

In their opening game, Edinburgh faced the Blues in Cardiff, where Chris Czekaj had a try awarded despite the winger's foot clearly being in touch.

Fast forward the action to last weekend where Glasgow were playing the Ospreys in Swansea for a place in the final and another Welsh winger, Shane Williams, scampers up the left touchline to score the opening try but not before dragging his left boot across the left touchline.

On both occasions the touch judges, linesmen, assistant referees – call them what you will because they have been called most things in their life – made very obvious mistakes that could have influenced the result and affected people's professional livelihoods. It would be nice to think that they were both sent back to touchie school, or whatever it is called, but you just know that the culprits are still doing their stuff without paying so much as a penny for their mistakes.

Incidentally, both linesmen were just yards from the action, in the case of Czekaj's try no more than a few feet, and he didn't even suggest referring the matter to the television match official. The problem is that the Magners League utilises local touch judges (although not in play-off matches) and one Scottish coach still rages about an Anthony Foley try for Munster where the No.8 rounded the linesman on his way to scoring in the corner.

Kiwi referee Steve Walsh was stood down from a Super 14 match recently because he had made a hash of things the previous weekend. The solution is simple enough if the will is there.

I am not alone in bewailing the standard of blowers in the Magners League, because Brian O'Driscoll had this to say following Leinster's win over Edinburgh: "At times it has been incredibly frustrating. With some of the decisions, players are looking at each other and not understanding interpretations… Until that standard is of a certain level – Heineken Cup level – you are limiting how good the league can actually become."

O'Driscoll finished by suggesting that the league imports referees from England if needs be and, right on cue, the RFU's Chris White will blow next Saturday's Grand Final between Leinster and the Ospreys in Dublin. But the standard of officials is not the only thing holding the Magners back.

It goes without saying that Glasgow were only playing that semi-final in the Liberty Stadium instead of Firhill because the Magners League were so tardy in bringing the Ospreys to book for failing to fulfil a fixture. The authorities waited almost two months before putting the Welsh region in front of a disciplinary hearing and, call me cynical, the Ospreys just may have noticed that they could beat this rap (or kick it into next season, which amounts to the same thing) by dragging their feet long enough.

Admittedly there was a volcano burping ash in Iceland but the two teams still managed to play the postponed match on 13 April; one month earlier than the disciplinary hearing! Anyway, in an era of video conferencing, the ash is irrelevant. The Magners League authorities simply had to bring the Ospreys to book before this year's play-offs and so they did, two days before and far too late to dock the Ospreys league points this season.

Anyway, the entire disciplinary process is inherently flawed because any player who is cited for violent conduct on the pitch is dragged before a panel of his fellow countrymen who might be swayed towards leniency, especially if the player in question is due to play for his country in a major Test match the following week.

It is intensely frustrating because the Magners has taken huge strides in recent years, providing – before last night – the last two European champions (Leinster and Munster) and supplying three of this year's quarter-finalists. The play-offs are a success, crowds are rising, television deals will be announced soon to bring live games to Scotland and the league has a healthier percentage of home-grown players than many others. But it could be so much better.

Former Glasgow boss David Jordan does the best that he can on thin air and promises but he is the league's operations director rather than its chief executive. So who is the Magners boss, the go-to guy, the spearhead? There isn't one. The board has a chairman (Ireland's John Hussey) but no chief executive. No one is driving the business, there is no sponsorship manager or team of experts hunting down business backing in these recessionary times, instead the job is farmed out to external agents.

There is no Magners media manager ensuring that the big stories reach a global audience, that service also being farmed out. There isn't even a fixed schedule: the Magners denotes playing days and times as little as ten days head of the due date because of various television demands, which is a nightmare for Scotland's pro-teams that try to get their fans into the Friday evening habit only to be told at short notice that they have to play on Sunday afternoon because Welsh language channel S4C demands it!

And while this question has been asked, it has yet to be answered: what exactly are the two Italian clubs who will join the league next season bringing to the table? They won't improve the standard on the field, extra fixtures mean that the Magners will now compete on Test weekends – the last thing the Celtic countries need – and the Italian fan base can be counted on fingers and toes.

If tying the Greek economy to the German one was foolhardy, was it any wiser linking Italian and Celtic rugby? The two cultures have absolutely nothing in common apart, perhaps, from a laissez faire approach to good business practice.