Trouble was, the player was never onside among the backs at the ruck, a fact I communicated to the referee just before he caught the ball and took off for the goal line.
The time-lag between my communicating to the referee and the time it took for him to blow the whistle may have made it look like the referee made a late decision to penalise the clearly-offside player.
Spectators are one thing, but the players are sometimes not immune to abusing referees either.
As the Border kicker was preparing to take the resulting kick at goal, a Kaierau player with vast representative experience questioned out loud whether there were any fair referees in Whanganui.
Such a cheap shot invited a response and the player was eventually gracious enough, after some prompting, to admit he shouldn't have made the comment.
It was also disappointing to see the press in Monday's edition of the Wanganui Chronicle wade into the referee of the other main game in town between Pirates and Marist at Spriggens Park.
Referees are only human and not above fair criticism but the referee of this game was singularly blamed for ruining the contest with his "symphony of whistling" and "constant whistle blowing" which made for a "stop-start affair."
According to the rugby correspondent, spectators wouldn't have been blamed for asking for their money back.
Other experienced rugby observers that I have spoken to didn't seem to share the same view but the reporter stands by his comments.
Referees do not go out on to the field with the intention of spending the afternoon playing a merry tune on their whistles.
Quite the opposite — the less adjudicating they have to do, the more enjoyable the game is likely to be for players, spectators and the referee, not to mention the reporters.
But they do have to deal with what the players present on the field.
And if the players make constant errors or repeatedly infringe the laws of the game, then the referee has to make some hard decisions in the interests of a fair contest.
It is the players who make the mistakes that cause the referee to blow his whistle, not the other way around.
If there is a raft of yellow cards handed out (and, by the way, there were more than four as recorded in the Chronicle) then the players need to think about what the reason is for them – some players are just slow learners.
As it stands at present, there is a very good chance there will be games in the Wanganui union area this season where there will not be a referee appointed simply because there isn't one available.
This season, the local association has one new recruit but we have lost at least five through injury and normal attrition.
After listening to some of the sideline antics and criticism in the press this season, you have to wonder why anyone would bother to take up the whistle.
Indeed, almost without exception, when you suggest to players who are injured or nearing the end of their playing days that they should give refereeing a go, the comment is usually "I couldn't handle all the moaning and groaning on and off the field," or words to that effect.
It is time clubs stepped up and made a genuine effort to help recruit referees.
They could start with addressing the boorish behaviour of some spectators at their grounds.
Every ground, including Spriggens Park, has a few of the culprits.
Everybody sees them and usually knows who they are — can or bottle in hand, yelling out abuse at referees (and sometimes players).
Club officials are very hospitable to referees in the clubhouse after the game, which is very gratifying.
But I wonder how many clubs have a goal of helping with referee recruitment in their strategic plans?
They should be shoulder-tapping likely candidates and not just leaving it up to the referees and the union to find more referees.
On a more positive note, hats off to the Kaierau and Border Senior teams who played a great game of rugby last Saturday.
Both teams came out with the right spirit which led to the spectacular climax of a fulltime sideline conversion to give Kaierau the dramatic 27-26 win.
Spectators certainly got their money's worth. Pity there wasn't a reporter there to see it!
Sports Editor's note: Monday's Page 24 story on the Pirates v Marist game does state that there were more than four yellow cards issued in the game, as Marist also had a player sinbinned.
