How have we gotten to this point in the game? Why are these decisions being discussed at water coolers all over the world, every week? We no longer talk about rugby, we talk about how shit the referee was. No one mentions the Pumas guts and determination or that Pieter-Steff-Du Toit made 20 tackles in the game, or how good Vermeulen was. We are talking about the ref and how ineffectual he was.
The biggest issue here is the referee. Not just Andrew Brace, but all of them in World Rugby, and IRB needs to get a handle on it, fast. The rugby world likes to point a finger at SA about ref bashing but that is because of the leaked video Rassie Erasmus made. Referees are copping flack from all sides, and official and supporters from all countries are calling out refs over the abysmal state of officiating in the game today.
My question is this. Why are referees absolved of any blame by their country's union, their own referee board and the IRB. If this is deemed a citable offence then why is Brace and his team not called to account? Why is Brace not called to account for not stopping the game (twice) when head injuries were blatantly obvious? I thought that was IRB protocol.
He can't say he missed them, Williams was lying out cold, almost at his feet, when he blew the penalty against SA and he did nothing to assist the situation.
So, I believe referees should be compelled by the IRB to attend the same press conferences as the players and coaches are required to attend. They are professionals in a professional game. They have the biggest influence on the game on match day and should not be absolved of responsibility of answering questions on their decisions. Currently they answer to no one but their own internal review system, and we all know how uselessly ineffectual those are. If the IRB doesn't address the current state of refereeing things will only get worse and the world will continue to talk about all the wrong things about the game, which is dying a slow death in popularity stakes.
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