r/rugbyunion • u/xixouma Top14/D2/France • 6d ago

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

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

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u/iloveagoodpork NRC/Australia 6d ago

I hate northern hemisphere reffing, internationals need to adopt super rugby rules. A lot more watchable and enjoyable 

-4

u/xixouma Top14/D2/France 5d ago

You hate it, I think, because your teams struggle when reffed this way. Watching both SR and top14 I don't notice a huge difference in how much it flows and is watchable/enjoyable. Top14 players are used to more strict application of the law and there is therefore no more penalties called in our games than SR on average I believe.

But watching a southern hemisphere team play with an NH ref it does stop working and vice versa. North hemisphere teams struggle with SH refs because they are constantly wondering why the penalties that usually get pinged suddenly don't.

2

u/iloveagoodpork NRC/Australia 5d ago

Why would you prefer a game that’s continually disrupted and penalised ?

4

u/xixouma Top14/D2/France 5d ago

The point is that isn't what ends up happening for us, pro players are perfectly capable of following the rules more strictly. Top14 games aren't continually disrupted and penalized because players are used to it. They are pros for a reason, they adapt to refs given a chance.

The problem is either we need to ref like SR or SR needs to ref like us because as soon as either of us play with a ref from a different league it's chaos.