A World Cup referee headache

Baying for Referee Alain Rolland’s blood after Saturday’s defeat at the hands of New Zealand won’t get us anywhere. Rolland was not at his best on Saturday, and that is an understatement. For a referee who handled the 2007 World Cup final, he clearly is no slouch. But on Saturday he was the type of referee we all complain about – inconsistent.

The Boks have the right to ask questions about the breakdown, where the All Blacks slowed the ball down, went off their feet and fell over at will, while the same indiscretions by the Boks were penalised by the ref.

They also have a right to ask why Richie McCaw can get so many “official” warnings while Bakkies Botha was yellow carded last weekend for his first breakdown offence.

But here’s the problem with whinging over the ref. One, it papers over the fact that the Boks simply weren’t good enough in both games. And two, it won’t help much as the Springboks will encounter these same refs at next year’s World Cup in New Zealand.

In a discussion with one top referee this weekend I could see the major problem facing the International Rugby Board ahead of next year’s World Cup, and it is a problem we as South Africans helped create.

By calling for merit-based officials in the Super 14, we have been spoilt. We have been given good rugby, reffed by some of the top officials in world rugby and we have four top referees who are quite possibly among the top five in world rugby at the moment.

This in itself creates a problem. The World Cup is not a place where referees will be selected on merit. The IRB have invested far too much in the tournament to have the All Blacks claim bias if they play, say England, and English referee Wayne Barnes has the whistle.

Consider Paddy O’Brien’s position as head of referees. He has two choices: Select the best 10 referees in the world for the tournament or select a mixture of nations that will allow neutrality throughout the tournament.

If he picks on merit, the South African quartet of Jonathan Kaplan, Mark Lawrence, Craig Joubert and Marius Jonker should be there. As should Bryce Lawrence (NZ) and Stuart Dickinson (Australia) and even possibly Steve Walsh as well.

But therein lies the rub – that’s seven officials from the Southern Hemisphere already, with only three spots for the North. Would the Six Nations countries allow this? Probably not.

Plus, O’Brien would have the added headache of struggling to find a neutral ref when the tournament reaches the quarterfinal stages, as the three countries these seven referees hail from would probably be in three of the four matches concerned.

So while it isn’t fair, expect the IRB to rather go with two refs from each of the Southern Hemisphere nations, and add the likes of Rolland, Allan Lewis, Wayne Barnes and Nigel Owens to the mix. The Northern Hemisphere refs clearly have their weaknesses in comparison to their Southern Hemisphere counterparts, but will be there anyway.

And this means, of course, that the Springboks will come into contact with all four of these referees at some point in the tournament, and the breakdown will again be a bone of contention.

This is why, no matter how bad Rolland was on Saturday, whinging about the referee won’t help. The Boks need to rather focus on their own shortcomings, and here there were more than a few.

Why was it so apparent that the tempo was upped when Ricky Januarie was off the field and Ruan Pienaar made his appearance? Januarie is a quality scrumhalf, but in a country filled with talent, is he really the best option? This season has shown again that the daylight between Fourie du Preez – undoubtedly the world’s best player – and Januarie is similar to the daylight between my lineout jumping abilities and that of Victor Matfield.

Then there are the yellow cards – and while Danie Rossouw may feel aggrieved – they certainly are fatal against a team like the All Blacks.

Still, even though the Boks started badly, they still conceded more than sixty points in two games and, frustration aside, they simply weren’t good enough to win in either match.

The All Blacks have upped their game somewhat and set the bar for the rest of the Tri Nations. The time has come for the Boks to take the referee out of the equation, return to the drawing board and play clever, more sustained rugby. Only then will they defend their World Cup title – whoever the referee is on the day.