O'Brien v Umaga on Super 14 refs

[Burgs]

O'Brien defends Super 14 refs

From Fox staff writers
May 07, 2007

INTERNATIONAL Rugby Board head of referees, Paddy O'Brien, has defended southern hemisphere whistleblowers after former New Zealand captain Tana Umaga attacked Super 14 refereeing standards on Saturday.

Umaga, who played his last Super 14 match in the Hurricanes' 14-38 loss to the New South Wales Waratahs in Wellington on Saturday, said after the game that southern hemisphere referees are struggling.

"I think referees in this part of the world are lacking," he said.

"Unfortunately referees in the northern hemisphere are better, which is sad to see.

"They have a better empathy for the game up there and something needs to be done.

"Apart from Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), everyone is struggling and New Zealand and Australian referees are struggling."

But New Zealander O'Brien said the southern hemisphere's best referees compare well to their northern counterparts.

"The top-level southern hemisphere referees hold their own against the northern referees. Paul Honiss and Steve Walsh are very experienced and in the top bracket of the World Cup referees," O'Brien told the Dominion-Post today.

Umaga, a highly regarded player and captain, said referees should be more accountable and should face the media and explain their decisions.

"It's got to a stage where I want to tell my son to ref because it's the safest job going around and they get paid a lot."

Umaga said he was speaking out as he has only a domestic season to complete, and it is not healthy to have players muzzled during competition for fear of upsetting sponsors and employers.

"I believe I'm at a stage that I can speak out and I can take the (financial fine for speaking out) if it comes," he said.

O'Brien said Umaga's comments need to be taken in context.

"He's just come off a loss in his last game. It's very easy for players and coaches to hide a poor performance behind the referee.

"He has been one of the great players in the Super 14 and is entitled to have that view, but there was probably a bit of emotion involved."

[frontrow]

I don't believe the game affected his decision to air his grievances regarding refs, he is just stating what everyone else, except for the ignorant, can see...

[chook]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is it i'm supposed to see?

[AndyS]

Watching the post match interview, he appeared anything but ripped up by the result - maybe he was just putting a brave face on it all, but the impression I got was that he was very comfortable with that being his last S14 game and perhaps even a little relieved the season was over. I'd've said you have to listen to his opinion, as he is one of the few in a position to compare northern and southern club refereeing from recent experience.

[Skiza]

He's probably wanted to have a go for a long time and now that his rugby days have passed, he can say whatever the heck he wants without any serious repercussions.

[AndyS]

Interesting - they've taken no action as he was merely commenting on the standard of refereeing as a whole rather than commenting on any particular referee.