Rugby refs come under microscope

[travelling_gerry]

Rugby refs come under microscope

By David Beniuk, AAP August 26, 2010, 5:00 pm

Scrutinising the habits of referees is becoming as much a part of preparing for a rugby Test as studying your opponents, Wallabies stars say.
With many of rugby's laws open to interpretation and sometimes confusion, particularly around the breakdown, international sides are using technology to understand whistleblowers' pet concerns.
Australia and South Africa will play their Tri-Nations Test at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday (0100 Sunday AEST) under Alain Rolland, the Irishman criticised earlier in the series by Springboks coach Peter de Villiers after a match in New Zealand.
"All the technology and all the footage is there to do it so I'm sure teams are starting to do a lot more work on the ref and how he referees it," Pocock told a press conference in Cape Town.
"They are fairly consistent so you can see generally what they're looking for and how they're looking to keep it clean around the breakdown."
Pocock conceded spectators sometimes had no idea why referees made the calls they did, but said were happy with consistency throughout a game.
"Players are good enough just to adapt (to that)," he said.
"There's always going to be times when you feel like you're harshly done by and, watching the game on the weekend (between the Springboks and New Zealand), there were times when I thought guys got away with a fair bit.
"But I guess that's up to the referees and we'll just do our job the best we can."
Asked if he felt he ever got away with a bit himself, Pocock said: "I guess it's a case of playing as close to the line as you can and trying to read the ref the best you can.
"Generally the refs are pretty good at being consistent.
"There's always going to be criticism when so much is at stake."
Wallabies prop Benn Robinson said referees' interpretations were part of the beauty of the game.
"I think it's quite unique about rugby," he said.
"You come down and play in Pretoria and it's a totally different game to playing up in the northern hemisphere so that's unique about it and the ability to adapt to the conditions, to the referee, to whatever it is, is crucial for a team to do well."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...er-microscope/

[Burgs]

Wallabies prop Benn Robinson said referees' interpretations were part of the beauty of the game.
"I think it's quite unique about rugby," he said.
"You come down and play in Pretoria and it's a totally different game to playing up in the northern hemisphere so that's unique about it and the ability to adapt to the conditions, to the referee, to whatever it is, is crucial for a team to do well."

A bit like sailing I guess...