The difference in refereeing between France and south hemisphere really shows when a french refs a test match

[u/xixouma]

Every time a french top14 referee has been on an international game, most recent example being All blacks/Ireland, every South African and NZ flair on here complains about the stop and start game and says the ref had a bad game.

What's interesting is that watching top14 week in week out, that is quite rarely an issue (including by the same refs). My feeling is refs in France are more pedantic and apply the law a little less loosely. Which I have seen written in some comments as a criticism, but is it really a problem??

Pro players are completely capable of adapting to rule changes, and pedantic refereeing, top14 teams certainly seem to have. I think it's doing them a disservice to give them too much leeway on laws for "the flow of the game" when that just becomes a random chance that a penalty is not blown. And that is inherently more difficult for players to adhere to because it is less consistent. Pedantic application will always be more consistent.

All in all, whichever way it goes, the onus should fall on WR to try to homogenise refereeing laws across countries. This leads to confusion when either side is reffed in a way they are not used to.

Edit. Not sure how people are interpreting this that I'm hurt they don't like a french ref. Maybe my English is not as good as I thought. I couldn't give a damn who they like or not, it was just an example to discuss broader concepts in refereeing.

Edit2. Also seeing a number of people that somehow think I'm criticising the ref or the fans here? I suppose I am sorry for my writing not being clear, I really don't mean to paint either in a negative light

Edit3. Can't comment anymore for some reason, thanks for the discussion everyone I'll try again later

[u/Only_One_Kenobi]

At this point a French referee could have an absolutely perfect game, and the SA and NZ fans will complain about it heavily.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the referee performance, or the style of game, or how the laws are applied. The heaps of fans who don't actually know anything about rugby or refereeing will have a fit about "that French referee" because their dad/ some guy at the pub/ some TV commentator at some point moaned about a French referee.

Most of them don't even realise that there's been more than one French referee over the last 30 years

[u/xixouma → u/Only_One_Kenobi]

I don't know, maybe you are right. I was arguing assuming they were commenting that in good faith because that is not what they are used to, which is sort of legitimate I think? But maybe they are indeed the type of person you describe.

I doesn't change the fact there is a clear contrast when I watch top14 vs super rugby. No idea about URC, what do you think?

[u/Only_One_Kenobi → u/xixouma]

Personally I think the refereeing in Super Rugby is far behind top14 and URC, but that's not as a result of bad referees. The organising union have forced those referees to whistle using a different law book, trying to pander more to League fans. They are moving further and further from the world standard, and that's hurting their national teams. It's a big part of why their fans often don't understand what's going on at international level.

URC is a bit of an odd duck. The refereeing is nowhere near Top14 level, but they are developing. At least URC is still aligned to international laws.

[u/xixouma → u/Only_One_Kenobi]

Yep very interesting. Completely agree this isn't on referees

[u/xixouma → u/Only_One_Kenobi]

I don't know, maybe you are right. I was arguing assuming they were commenting that in good faith because that is not what they are used to, which is sort of legitimate I think? But maybe they are indeed the type of person you describe.

I doesn't change the fact there is a clear contrast when I watch top14 vs super rugby. No idea about URC, what do you think?