Wynne Gray: Officials need help to quell dissent

TJ Perenara is an excellent player who consistently champions their sides' rights. Photo / Getty Images

Dialogue between Super Rugby referees and the squads is at an all-time high.

Teams request officials' practical advice about laws before the tournament starts and have refresher sessions during the season, backed by regular feedback and interaction with referees' boss Lyndon Bray.

The chat continues before kickoff when the referee speaks to both teams about what he wants from the players and how he is going to rule on the laws garnished with Super Rugby trimmings.

It's pretty clear that is the time for the referees to make it clear they do not want to be chipped at throughout games by players who do not agree with their decisions.

The halfbacks in tonight's New Zealand shootout at the Cake Tin are two of the prime offenders. TJ Perenara and Aaron Smith are excellent players who consistently champion their sides' rights with gesticulations at breakdowns, encouraging comments about their teams and about the opposition illegalities.

They've upped their gamesmanship and been very adept about it while referees have been unable or unwilling to quell that intrusion.

The wall of noise has grown and the intrusions have become more frequent.

Highlanders captain Ben Smith's late request for referee Nick Briant to consult his TMO and rub out a Crusaders' try last round brought Bray into the equation with a tournament edict.

No more, he decreed, that type of questioning was unacceptable and would not be tolerated.

So what is acceptable, where are the boundaries in this game which has so many variables and complicated interpretations.

When a player clearly sees his side has been slighted and the referee and touch-judges have made a mistake, does he have to stay quiet or risk a spell in the sin-bin if he opens his trap?

There's no doubt the overflow of players' opinions is annoying referees as much as it grates with spectators who have to watch and listen to their interjections.

Super Rugby wants to reclaim some authority although that cause may already have eroded too far although not to the disgraceful extent of a World Cup qualifying match in Brussels this week.

World Rugby has not raised a peep after referee Vlad Lordachescu was pushed and jostled by Spanish players after they lost 18-10 to Belgium in a World Cup qualifier.

Television replays, player intrusions and spectator heckling all bite into officials' performance and if they don't get more support, rugby will be the loser.