Francis rules refs

If you find yourself swearing at the telly in disbelief over the refereeing come Rugby World Cup time, just blame Masterton Mayor Bob Francis.
Francis, a former high profile whistle-blower in his own right, returned on the weekend from a week-long trip to Ireland where he met up with his colleagues on the International Rugby Board match officials selection panel.
The six-strong panel are charged with picking the referees who will officiate at the game's showpiece tournament, and by all accounts it is not the easiest of tasks.
This year, Francis and friends have selected two squads.
Firstly there are the elite referees, of which there are 12, with a further 13 touch judges and television officials whose responsibilities will conclude with the completion of pool play.
New Zealand has five officials in the mix, the most of any nation, with Steve Walsh and Paul Honiss handed whistles while Lyndon Bray, Kelvin Deaker and Bryce Lawrence will run the touchlines.
"It's a fairly good reflection of the standard of refereeing in New Zealand that we are so well represented," Francis said.
Three referees, Wayne Barnes (England), Nigel Owens (Wales) and Marius Jonker (South Africa), are set to make their World Cup debuts this year while Stuart Dickinson, Chris White, Jonathan Kaplan, Honiss and Walsh will be making their third appearances.
"We spend a lot of time observing referees through the Super 14, November tests and Six Nations so all of us had a good idea of how they've been performing and we're confident we've made the right selections.
"We don't have a ranking system, we just debate the merits of each individual referee and some obviously select themselves," he said, adding that the process was not without some disagreement.
"The World Cup is the ultimate for a referee, just as it is for the players, so it's a big decision but we have a lot of information in front of us, though most of our choices are based on observing.
"The rugby channel gets a bit of a hammering in the weekends, when the Six Nations is on sometimes I'll end up watching seven games."
As part of his role, Francis will be required to attend the World Cup to monitor the referees through pool play before the panel gets together again to choose who will officiate the quarter and semi-final matches.
He will base himself in Paris, though he has to travel to Edinburgh and possibly Wales during the early stages.
A week prior to tournament kick-off on September 8, the panel will bring the referees together in France to discuss the game's key components, Francis said.
"We'll be looking at things like scrums, lineout issues, problems at the tackle/ruck and the relationship between the ref and the touchie, which has stood out a lot recently with passes being called forward when they're not and that sort of thing,
"Then we'll be contacting the coaches to let them know how we plan to referee these areas so they're not caught unawares."
It will be busy, he said, but it all going to plan it will be a great time.