Fitzy warns refs not up to big game play

Referees can break a game. Photo / Brett Phibbs

All Black great Sean Fitzpatrick has sounded a warning ahead of the first test, saying the standard of refereeing does not match the quality of rugby in the global game.

The former hooker, now based in the United Kingdom, is following the Lions tour in his role as television analyst and an AIG global ambassador.

He worries that the standard of refereeing is having too much influence in the modern game and says there are only a handful capable of controlling the big matches.

"I would like to see the governing body invest more in referees," he told the Weekend Herald. "The quality of refereeing is a concern. It's no surprise when we get the best referees - and there's only three or four in the world - we get the best games of rugby.

"We don't spend enough money in refereeing the game, which is crucial. They have so much say in the game."

Fitzpatrick said interpretations around scrum laws were a particular bugbear.

"The amount of time we waste at scrums," he said. "I'd like it to be more black and white so there's not so many different interpretations."

Sir Clive Woodward was on the receiving end of the most infamous scrum penalty of them all when, in the 2003 World Cup final, a dominant England scrum was inexplicably penalised by Andre Watson in the final minute, allowing Australia to draw level.

All ended well on that occasion but Woodward echoed Fitzpatrick's call for clarity.

"When there is two positive coaches and a good referee there is not a lot wrong with the laws, but if scrums are going to go down, down, down and teams are going to take an age at the lineouts it kills the game.

"With my job at the British Olympic Association I'd talk to athletes and coaches and they like rugby but they don't understand it. You know it as a coach. The referee will blow his whistle and you'll say, 'What was that for?' If the coach doesn't know the public doesn't so we've got to simplify the game. You don't have to change a lot but we've got to make it a lot clearer how the game is refereed."

Both believe there needs to be better pathways for young referees who leave the ranks early but want to retain ties to the sport.