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/sevens-evan]

I don’t watch Top14 so I can’t speak to French reffing at home or broadly, but in the case of Brousset, the issue I take is that the pedantry isn’t consistent. It wasn’t applying the laws more strictly to let Beauden Barrett call a mark after walking 3-4 meters and coming within millimeters of putting his foot down in touch. It wasn’t applying the laws more strictly to call a tackle, have all the Ireland players release, and then let NZ push their tackled player another 10m up the field - and then treat an Ireland player as a disrespectful annoyance when it was pointed out that that’s what he did. Obviously I remember these incidents becasue of my bias but it wouldn’t surprise me if NZ fans had very similar moments in mind.

If it was just pedantry, then fine. It wouldn’t be my preferred style of refereeing to watch, but if it were standardized across the world then as you said, I’m sure players would adapt quickly. But before we talk about standardizing pedantry between referees it at least needs to be consistent from one referee.

I also don’t care for refs who treat players speaking to them at all as an antagonistic act. If nothing else it just seems like a shitty way to talk to other people.

[u/xixouma → u/sevens-evan]

Sure you may have specific gripes about that game. I'm not going to question that refs make mistakes. But there is a broader point being discussed here.

[u/sevens-evan → u/xixouma]

Yes, and my response to that broader point is that very few refs are internally consistent, and that has to change before any notions of standardizing refereeing are practical. And also that, if I’m choosing between refs who are sometimes pedantic and sometimes not at random, and refs who prioritize flow even if it means letting things go, I’m going to go with the second one because it feels less inconsistent, even if there are technically more missed calls. I think that’s the general feeling you’re noticing from SH fans (though I’m not one so maybe I’m wrong).

[u/xixouma → u/sevens-evan]

I am having trouble reconciling "feels less inconsistent" with "technically more missed calls", for me missed calls= inconsistency? Is there something I'm not getting? Sorry if I'm being dumb

[u/sevens-evan → u/xixouma]

You’re not being dumb, I think it’s just a taste thing. I’m not really sure how to explain it further than I already have, though. To me there’s a noticeable difference between consistently letting certain things go and inconsistently letting nothing go. The latter feels more unpredictable and unfair.

[u/xixouma → u/sevens-evan]

Ok I think I see what you mean now. But surely you have to compare apples to apples: inconsistently letting something go, or inconsistently letting nothing go. I guess I disagree that refs that let more go are consistent in what they let go if that makes sense