Favourite ref

[Stumpy]

I like George Clancy purely because I met him in a pub after a game and had a good chat with him.

 

[psychic duck]

Like JP Doyle at club level, needs to get more experience at international. Also like Mitrea, think Garces is down there with the Irish refs, Owens rarely affects the winner of the game and usually has entertaining games. Don't like Barnes one bit as he has no consistency from game to game. Don't have a favourite but like most I have a few that make me groan.

Garces is one of the better refs from what is all round a pretty poor pool.

There's basically no referee who doesn't completely ignore routine feeding and early shoving at scrums, award penalties to tight five forwards jackalling over the ball clearly not supporting weight or completely throw the law book out of the window for mauls which is blight on the game which WR seem bizarrely unwilling to fix (why did they make a big deal about straight put ins and then abandon it within weeks?)

But the very worst is Clancy who seems to lack an extended knowledge of the laws and routinely blunders, genuinely clueless at scrum, and ruins games with a negative interpretation at ruck that nearly always rewards defence and slowing ball over attack. He sets the bar for sheer awfulness from an elite level referee. Poite has recently been veering towards a Clancy level incompetence as well sadly.

As an aside Owens is massively overrated. He's certainly not the worst ref out there. But the 'best ref ever' fanboy type talk he's had over the past 3 years has been way over the top, and almost entirely based on his flair for building a celebrity persona as opposed to an actual technical analysis of his refereeing.

 

[Thingimubob]

Garces is one of the better refs from what is all round a pretty poor pool.

There's basically no referee who doesn't completely ignore routine feeding and early shoving at scrums, award penalties to tight five forwards jackalling over the ball clearly not supporting weight or completely throw the law book out of the window for mauls which is blight on the game which WR seem bizarrely unwilling to fix (why did they make a big deal about straight put ins and then abandon it within weeks?)

But the very worst is Clancy who seems to lack an extended knowledge of the laws and routinely blunders, genuinely clueless at scrum, and ruins games with a negative interpretation at ruck that nearly always rewards defence and slowing ball over attack. He sets the bar for sheer awfulness from an elite level referee. Poite has recently been veering towards a Clancy level incompetence as well sadly.

As an aside Owens is massively overrated. He's certainly not the worst ref out there. But the 'best ref ever' fanboy type talk he's had over the past 3 years has been way over the top, and almost entirely based on his flair for building a celebrity persona as opposed to an actual technical analysis of his refereeing.

To be fair to the guy, games he refs tend to be entertaining. He's probably the best when it comes to the feel for the game and letting it flow. Few whistle happy refs out there who make the game a bit stop start.