KEY POINTS:
It's been a tough couple of weeks for Australian officials.
First, the big talking points of a distinctly ordinary opening test against France at Eden Park concerned referee Stu Dickinson and television match official George Ayoub; then it was Dickinson in the gun last week after a strange set-to with oddball French coach Bernard Laporte in the foyer of a Wellington hotel.
That's primed to go to international rugby's judiciary but don't hold your breath for a decisive outcome.
Tonight, when the All Blacks meet Canada in Hamilton, Ayoub and South African Craig Joubert are running the lines. Another Aussie, Paul Marks, is in front of the square box and Frenchman Christophe Berdos has the whistle.
So what's it like being Ayoub, the bloke who, along with his mate Dickinson, have copped more than their share of flak this side of the Tasman, and are seen by many as examples of Australia's inability to produce high-quality officials?
Actually, he's a good bloke, who loves his footy. The 43-year-old Sydneysider played first grade for Wests as a halfback and later tried coaching but didn't really enjoy it. So he started refereeing in 1994, gave up teaching (history and English) to go fulltime in 1999; controlled his first Super game the following year - and has done time as referees' manager in New South Wales.
But when you're getting bagged for dropping a clanger, when the crowd's getting at you, why carry on? "We love the game. We're competitive and love the challenge. And the appeal is the challenge to get it right," Ayoub said this week.
"You have your good days and bad days. Some people don't understand why we do it. Apart from playing, I couldn't think of a better way to be involved, while the legs keep running."
In the course of a lengthy chat, only once did Ayoub sound ruffled. It's the idea put about in New Zealand that Australian referees are sub-standard because they don't have a middle-tier competition between club and Super 14 for officials to cut their teeth.
South Africa has the Currie Cup, New Zealand has the Air New Zealand Cup. But Ayoub backs the structures in Australia.
"We had five guys for a long time on the top international panel [prominent referees Peter Marshall and Wayne Eriksson have since retired], and I think we do referee and play above our weight."
So how do you take the flak? Need a thick hide? "Yeah, you do. I don't mind criticism as long as it's warranted. If you make a blue you should put your hand up. What's difficult sometimes is the criticism that's personal."
Ayoub admits his appearance - short and, ahem, thinning on top - leaves him open to the odd jibe.
"With a face and head like mine you don't miss too much. Sometimes it's pretty funny.
"I get the standard 'can you stand up', or "get the hair out of your eyes'. But you only hear it when the game's stopped."
The game stopped for a while at Eden Park against the French as Ayoub took his time before awarding Sitiveni Sivivatu's contentious try. But Ayoub put that into context.
Bottom line? Get the decision right.
"I admit it took longer than I usually do but it was so touch and go I didn't want to get it wrong, didn't want to let Stewie [Dickinson] and the players down. Now if that was the World Cup final, and the game hinged on that try, you'd want to get it right, no matter how long you took."
And Ayoub corrected a misleading impression of that try, as nine replays scrolled across the screen while he pondered his decision.
Ayoub didn't want them all. He says he made the call on "four or five" but the screen can't go blank, so other replays he didn't need to see rolled up.
He refereed a Sharks-Chiefs match at Durban in 2004 when Jonathan Kaplan took over 7min to rule out a late Sharks try to seal a Chiefs win.
Ayoub's no cut-and-run type either. When his days with the whistle are over he's keen to stay involved in the game, to put back in. "It'd be nice to help the young guys coming through," he said.
