The man in the middle… how many decisions does a ref make

Typical of rugby nobody has done a full analysis I can find….but this is helpful:

A recent UEFA study showed football referees made an average of 137 decisions and 60 'non decisions' in a euro tournament. In rugby union we can probably treble the non-decisions. Depending on the level of the match, we can take an average of 12-20 penalties awarded in a match, 15 scrums and lines-out and on paper that's only about 50 or so decisions to make. Simple. But that's not how it works.

A match does not function on only 50 'actual' decisions. With teams between them making about 150-200 tackles per match there's potentially that amount of decisions to make, but we don't see that many because other decisions are being made almost by the second internally by the referee and 'preventative refereeing' kicks in.

So we start with 50 decisions. But scrums are reset, lineout execution is an important area of non decisions. Then there are all the breakdowns….maybe 30 a game. More than a 150 tackles. When the Boks are playing what 20 kick receptions?

All of these non decisions and non decisions were part of the Harrassmiss tape. So the number the of decisions the ref could have gotten wrong probably numbered close to 300. He admitted to 17.

Is that egregiously high? Well we don’t know unless we put all those 300 decisions under the same microscope for other refs. My guess is it’s about average.

Food for thought.

Putting the rest of the decisions on the table, and we see the Boks are no victims. But, that's, yet again, an inconvenient fact. 

Then as a perfectionist why is there so much leniency for error/interpretation?

Is rugby a "hit or miss" game and I don't mean in a literal way.

If partial human error must be accepted (which I realistically accept) then why do we come down on difficult decisions referees have to make for critical results. ie I mention Craig Joubert who was one of our best past refs with no guile or hidden agendas in his total character by those who know him well.

We must be fair but also realistic...if big sport is so important and it's results why is there so much negligence in officiating it??? It boggles the mind!

It’s not negligence. Pakie would get this with his expertise on accident data. There is constant motion, probably closer to 500 decision points in the game, the ref in motion, players in the way, rules that require interpretation.

I’ll say this again we can only improve this with much more time to view incidents. We have been doing this since Harrassmiss and games have become longer. But there are still many errors. Who knows for example if a scrum was deliberately wheeled or whether one team was dominant.

The TMO review of almost every try or dangerous incident is good protection that errors don’t influence the result.

As a rethink maybe ones attitude should be ...ref decisions are just part of the obstacles of the game, just like golf has water hazards, trees o n the fairway etc and one's or teams skill must have the ability to overcome such hazards...maybe that's the right attitude...just one of those adversities in trials, games and competitions in life...and take it and live with it. Maybe our attitudes are self-righteous and unforgiving and lack the spirit of true sportsmanship. Food for thought, ne?

Maybe we should make the rules easier. Shoulder charge to the head is a straight red. Grabbing the neck and forcing the player to ground is a red. Taking a player out of the air is a red. Picking a player up and dumping him onto his head is a red. Call me harsh, but it's the perfectionist in me. 

I agree, to miss such a blatant forward pass from the hapless Damian is beyond comprehension. 

Back into the mud again….oh well….try this. At worst Harrassmiss made sure the tape was going to go viral…..at best he was a fool that never even knew he should put a password on the video.

The end result was the same, it was almost instantly available to be viewed.

Aftermath Rassie...

At 7.05 Erasmus sent it to WR…..at 7.27 he sent it to a group of 40:

Shortly after sending that email, Erasmus then circulated the video to a WhatsApp group titled ‘Test 2 SA v BIL’ comprising SA Rugby coaches and players. That was at 7.27am. “The WhatsApp information revealed the identities of the persons in this group are Lindsay Weyer, Andy Edwards, Anuerin, Bongi, Daa… However, in evidence, Mr Erasmus said the recipients comprised the numbered 40.

…,

40 people! 40 people who had no instructions to keep it confidential. Only this:

“Mr Erasmus posted a screenshot of the email at 66 above with the following comment: ‘No rush to watch, but just to make sure you guys know what is happening behind the scenes to keep the contest fair’. Ras” 

As Jones said only a fool would imagine this wasn’t going to get out. Hell nursing home occupants know more about internet security.

This is what we are dealing with MPower.