Before the game I happened to pass the Thames Valley referee who looked vaguely familiar.
Not sure whether or not it was an ex first class referee I had seen on television, I re-introduced myself to Sean Moore – who used to referee Premier rugby here some years ago while principal of Ohakune School.
His pre-game predictions turned out to be pretty much wrong on all counts.
While referees usually start thinking about the game they have been appointed to officiate as soon as the appointment is announced, it is important to keep an open mind and be prepared to referee the actual game which unfolds in front of them on match day.
The style of rugby a team likes to play can be derailed by ground and weather conditions, as well as the make-up of the squad on the day.
Despite the game not going the way he thought it would, Moore was experienced enough to make a good job of refereeing it.
In this case, the weather was perfect and the ground quite hard after a dry summer.
My first observation was at nearly every tackle or breakdown, players from the ball-carrier team would immediately either drive over the players on the ground around the ball (perfectly legal) or, more likely, placed their hands on the ground beyond their players lying on the ground (illegal).
As a result, there were almost zero contests for the ball as these players were effectively sealing it off, so opponents could not contest posession.
Both teams had obviously been coached to do this and seemed to accept the fact that the team in possession of the ball had all rights to it.
The defenders quickly fanned out to prepare to defend the next phase of play while the attackers set up their next move.
Putting the hands on the ground beyond the ball is illegal, but not a problem if there are no opponents there to contest possession.
But as soon as there is a contest, then they are clearly breaking the rules if they stay there.
In addition, they will be in a very vulnerable position, with their head bent down below the hips, and likely to risk a neck injury if their oponents attempt to vigorously drive them off and away from the ball.
What also wasn't so good to see was the local coach giving the referee a nasty serve for perceived offside play by opponents. Nothing new there.
But what was good to see though, was his captain and No 8 asking him none-too-politely to desist from continuing with this behaviour, as he walked up to the next scrum.
How often do you see a captain frowning on poor sideline behaviour from a coach?
During the first half I had an interesting discussion with the father of one of the visiting players.
He came from Auckland and had other sons who were playing Premier rugby up there and commented on how much better, faster and cleaner (read: less foul play) the rugby was in Thames Valley compared with Auckland.
The father claimed the competition up there was dominated by a few teams that were physically pounding their opponents week in, week out.
On reading the Sunday Herald I noted three of those teams scored over seventy points against their hapless opponents the day before.
You have to wonder why the Blues can't do the same in Super Rugby, or do you?
For the record, the local team raced out to an early 12 point lead, courtesy of two superb running tries by a couple of sharp young backs, and hung on for a narrow victory in a close encounter after a fast and clean (read: no foul play) game against bigger and more experienced opposition.
The referee's pre-game predictions were thus thwarted.
I would have liked to have stayed on and chatted with the Sean and players, but he had a child's birthday to get to while a swim in the warm Pacific waters awaited me.
