Those who believe the refs are bent might watch this lecture by Nigel Owens. He very sincerely and humorously describes his history which is compelling and needless to say, different. It covers ref performance as well as making some insightful points about the life journey we are all on. Worth a watch if you have 40 minutes to spare
Without watching the vid, the summary seems off topic.
It is not so much about refs being bent or biased.
Much more about how reffing in rugby allows people to express their biases without concern as reffing in rugby leaves so much room to do so.
People are biased. They are prejudiced. Most people do not admit theirs biases. They prefer to deny them.
It is not the problem. The problem is that in rugby, due to the way the code is ruled, refs can express their biases, maliciously or not.
Checks and balances are unapplied as it is mostly impossible to do so.
Too many questions in rugby can be answered by a yes and a no without it making an incorrect answer.
These situations allow to express biases with no concern as it is quite hard to exhibit a bias in the first place.