'Questionable' refereeing decisions (Personal)

[Seaton]

This is not a thread designed to critize referees, to start off, just a little conversation.

So, use this thread to post any 'memorable' refereeing performances that you personally experienced (as a player, coach, parent etc...), and just what decisions made it so memorable.

For me, it was a school match (me playing for the Thundering Third Team), which had several highlights.

So the game started, they kicked off and a few minutes later, they get near our try-line.
There was a ruck that formed about a meter away from the line, in which the ball failed to emerge. The ref blew his whistle (and signalled a scrum), and an opposition player with the elegance and guile of an elephant promptly picked the ball up, and put it over the line. Needless to say, the ref awarded a try. Make of that what you will...

It gets better though. All of a sudden, there is a knock-on, and the ref asked the opposition (Kingsway) what do they want, a scrum or long arm penalty :mellow:
And they were the team that knocked the ball on in the first place!

Well, they took the line-out, and threw the ball in so skew it went behind their own fly-half, the ref said it was straight

Well then, after conceding a few more penalties for our knock-ons, we got a line-out.
Our hooker through the ball in straight enough that Kingsway actually got the ball (which they then knocked-on), but the referee proceeded to award a penalty (of course) for throwing the ball in skew.

Just before half-time, we were 26 points down (surprise?) and then the ref had a nerve to award an 'own-try', after our number 8 chucked the bull out of the scrum by our try-line, and then our scrummy fell backwards and sat on the ball.

In the second half, we were attacking and we knocked the ball on. They got it and punted it up-field. One of their players claimed he was tripped, and then the ref awarded a penalty try (which, according to him, needn't be converted). This despite our full-back being meters away from the ball, and the 'tripped' player being at least 40 meters away . The refs explanation? The 'tripped' player was black, and thus would have got the ball before our white full-back.

The worst part is when the ref congragulates Kingsway players after they scored (and incidentally knew all their names)
Now I could very easily be wrong, but I don't think the ref was actually biased, it just looked as though he didn't know a single rule about rugby before the match, and that Kingsway players must have 'filled him in'

Dissapointing stuff (we only lost like 34-5 or something)

 

[Teh Mite]

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Bloody ruined my day out.

 

[Seaton]

'grounfing' ?

Well, your nae a player, nae the coach, so you must be awful old to be a parent.
I can get where you're coming from, but if everyone posts professional match incidents, which have been talked/typed over before, well the thread just derails.
You have been warned

 

[lynam1104]

This is from a long time ago it was a 10s tournament with 2 10 min half's per game just to explain how it worked.Semi final of one of the most important tournaments of the year. The ref is clue less he has already knocked out our rival team by being a useless git, now on to our game he constantly penalizes out team for the opposition offenses they manage to score a try after about 7 minuets despite the unbelievable able amount of penalty. In the 2ng half he yellow cards our prop for no reason (he also wouldn't equalizes the scrums as you have to do in 10s), at this point out entire team and our coach had lost it. The score is still 5-0 so in the last few minuets our center picks up the ball form a lose pass on the half way line runs though the defense and scorers under posts to our surprise he allows the try. He let's the team kick off from about 10m inside our half and gets on with what followed was tackle after tackle until he gives them a penalty witch they kick out and time was up i don't know why it was all a bit confusing.

 

[Teh Mite]

'grounfing' ?

Well, your nae a player, nae the coach, so you must be awful old to be a parent.
I can get where you're coming from, but if everyone posts professional match incidents, which have been talked/typed over before, well the thread just derails.
You have been warned

Well EXcuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me!

Nah, only incident I could think of off hand. Technically it was personal though as I was at the game!

 

[SelimNiai]

Any time Steve Lander reffed Bristol, seriously abysmal 'reffing'.

 

[Teh Mite]

Any time Steve Lander reffed [strike]Bristol[/strike], seriously abysmal 'reffing'.

More to the point!

 

[SelimNiai]

More to the point!

Ha true dat

 

[Conal]

we played larne grammer once
we had a scrum bout halfway the scrum turned basicly 360 degrees and i (a th prop at the time) was in between there locks the ball then bobbled out and we passed and got on with the game
the ref was good apart from that scrum no idea what happend but i think he musnt have been watching as it broke nearly every rule i broke my bind it turned retty much full circle and i was in their scrum
made us all laugh after

 

[gingergenius]

in my days as a flanker, got pinged about 5 times in a game for trying to rip the ball from a player on the ground when no one else was about... despite his blatant holding on on the ground. i was very cross at the time.

 

[TrueSlawter]

Probs the worst was having a ref from Anglesea who hated Rhyl ref the friendly between us (rhyl) and llangefni (from anglesea) every decision went their way and at the end he tried to start a fight with out #8 as he said "dont bother it aint worth it on a ref" as our captain questioned some of his decisions like knock ons from them that nout happened likewise forward passes etc.

 

[nickdnz]

I remember the worst refereed game I've ever been in, as it was the last rugby game I played. Johnsonville U19's played my old school of Onslow College, which is a player group within the region. I finished two years ago, so I was playing against many of my old mates from Onslow (and my coach). Well, the referee was an Onslow College developing referee, whom was around 15 years old. I've known him since he was about five. Well anyway, Johnsonville U19's were punished at every ruck, for some bull sh*t infringment or another. He was so openly bias it was ludacris. We ended up winning the game I think 15-10, or something like that, but that 15 year old kid really got the teams nerves, and that really was a very poor result.

 

[markshaw]

we had this japanese ref this year he was on an exchange or something. any ways he couldnt speak a word of english. he had his own remix of rules like if the other team doesnt contest a line out it doesnt have 2 be straight which in fact makes sence. only rule he didnt have the hang of was if the ball is charged down from a clearing kick and it goes in goal then it is a 22 drop out. this cost us the game as he gave the oppisition a 5m scrum and ****** up our semi final

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

This is not a thread designed to critize referees, to start off, just a little conversation.

So, use this thread to post any 'memorable' refereeing performances that you personally experienced (as a player, coach, parent etc...), and just what decisions made it so memorable.

For me, it was a school match (me playing for the Thundering Third Team), which had several highlights.

So the game started, they kicked off and a few minutes later, they get near our try-line.
There was a ruck that formed about a meter away from the line, in which the ball failed to emerge. The ref blew his whistle (and signalled a scrum), and an opposition player with the elegance and guile of an elephant promptly picked the ball up, and put it over the line. Needless to say, the ref awarded a try. Make of that what you will...

It gets better though. All of a sudden, there is a knock-on, and the ref asked the opposition (Kingsway) what do they want, a scrum or long arm penalty :mellow:
And they were the team that knocked the ball on in the first place!

Well, they took the line-out, and threw the ball in so skew it went behind their own fly-half, the ref said it was straight

Well then, after conceding a few more penalties for our knock-ons, we got a line-out.
Our hooker through the ball in straight enough that Kingsway actually got the ball (which they then knocked-on), but the referee proceeded to award a penalty (of course) for throwing the ball in skew.

Just before half-time, we were 26 points down (surprise?) and then the ref had a nerve to award an 'own-try', after our number 8 chucked the bull out of the scrum by our try-line, and then our scrummy fell backwards and sat on the ball.

In the second half, we were attacking and we knocked the ball on. They got it and punted it up-field. One of their players claimed he was tripped, and then the ref awarded a penalty try (which, according to him, needn't be converted). This despite our full-back being meters away from the ball, and the 'tripped' player being at least 40 meters away . The refs explanation? The 'tripped' player was black, and thus would have got the ball before our white full-back.

The worst part is when the ref congragulates Kingsway players after they scored (and incidentally knew all their names)
Now I could very easily be wrong, but I don't think the ref was actually biased, it just looked as though he didn't know a single rule about rugby before the match, and that Kingsway players must have 'filled him in'

Dissapointing stuff (we only lost like 34-5 or something)

That is so insane I am tempted to call you a liar, LOL.

Personally the craziest refereeing game I was part of was in primary school playing right wing for the grade 6 A team. It was essentially our school's teams vs that of a nearby squatter camp aimed at promoting rugby. First off, there is no way some of these guys were under the age of 18 and this being 1994 with Mandela just released there was definately some hostility (especially from their side). I can go through a whole list of **** that went awry but what got me was the absolute absence of penalising blatant violence. I for one literally got picked up and dumped onto my shoulder from over a guy's head and I'm not a small winger and weren't back then. Then after a while I was involved in a punch-up after my opposing winger went off with concussion (I was standing on our tryline and he got an inside ball and was charging me with his head down; I was like a dear caught in headlights and next thing I know I am sitting on my ass and my opponent has lost the ball and, seemingly, consciousness from running head first into my hip). I shouldn't even go into the **** that went on at the rucks.

Antways, the whole affair got canceled just as soon as the headmaster's son got a bit of his ear bitten off and scratch marks over his face. I hadn't been in a game as dirty (with the refs seemingly not giving a ****) until I started playing club rugby again (as a lock, LOL). In one game I got so ****** up I decided to quit for good. Seriously, club rugby in the Cape is combat.

 

[Seaton]

I refuse to play club rugby in SA after watching players purposely sharpening their studds.

I mean even some of my school teamates would sometimes laugh and joke how one of our players (as part of a 'hand off) intentionally elbowed a guys trachea (he didn't die but couldn't breath for over a minute), and heres the best part, we were (still is) recognised as the cleanest school in the our part of KZN, mental.