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World's best may control Super 14
Jim Kayes
The Dominion Post | April 9, 2008 - 6:16AM
Rugby's leading referees bosses will decide later this month whether the International Rugby Board should employ the world's leading referees rather than the national unions.
IRB boss Paddy O'Brien confirmed yesterday the idea had been "bandied about for some time" as a way to increase the independence of match officials.
It would also ensure referees for competitions such as the Super 14 and Heineken Cup were merit-based - an issue that is to the fore as the fallout from Paul Marks' handling of the Hurricanes match against the Sharks last Saturday continues.
O'Brien would not say whether Marks should be demoted for his blunders at Westpac Stadium but said it was clear he should have gone to the video referee in the final act of the match.
"The bottom line is he made a mistake and should have referred it to the TMO because there was a lot happening, but that's refereeing."
Monday's scheduled release of the referees appointments for rounds 10-12 of the Super 14 has been delayed because of Marks' performance.
The New Zealand Rugby Union wants Marks' controversial handling of the game to be considered, something his Australian boss, Peter Marshall, has argued against.
The schedule is in the hands of South African referees boss Andre Watson as the South African union is the Sanzar secretariat. Watson could not be reached for comment yesterday and officials on either side of the Tasman were in the dark about when the appointments list would be released.
There is a draft copy, but the NZRU wants Marks' games to be changed after he failed to use the video referee in the final minute of the Hurricanes' 13-13 draw with the Sharks in Wellington.
That is now unlikely to happen as Sanzar works on unanimous decisions across the three countries and Marshall has said Marks should not be demoted on the basis of one mistake.
He leapt to Marks' defence but was in no mood to discuss his future yesterday, refusing to say whether the Australian's Super 14 matches had been changed. "It's a Sanzar matter and I'm not privy to their thinking, so I'm not going to answer that," he said.
Australia's Brett Bowden and George Ayoub were demoted last year but it is rare for such a step to be taken. In part that is because the demands of travel and neutrality restrict Sanzar's ability to sanction referees.
Marshall would also not comment on whether the IRB should take control of the Sanzar referees, but O'Brien said competitions such as the Super 14 and Heineken Cup were so important that the referee appointments had to be merit-based.
They would be if the Dublin meeting agreed to shift the employment of referees to the IRB.
The meeting will include the referee bosses from Sanzar and the Six Nations, as well as Japan, Canada, United States and Argentina, and South Africa's World Cup winning coach Jake White, and Wales' Warren Gatland.
"It's a strategic meeting that will look at where refereeing is heading for the next four years," O'Brien said. "We'll discuss things like whether we need specialised touch judges and TMOs.
"And we'll discuss whether the IRB should take over the fulltime employment of the referees, and that they then control games in the northern and southern hemisphere competitions.
"It's easy to say that, but it's a lot harder logistically. I'm not cold on the idea but I'm lukewarm."
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