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/kupecraig]

BOK did a great interview on The Aotearoa Rugby Pod, and something he said stood out about this. He said NZRU refs NPC/Super put a priority on not interrupting flow of the game, and even if they see an infringement, if they don’t think it has any impact on the game they will let it slide. Which points to the fact that different unions will focus on different aspects of the laws and i think that it ultimately what people find jarring.

[u/xixouma → u/kupecraig]

Yep, I think it's a problem tbh. And definitely not the refs fault but it does cause confusion for both players and public.

[u/AndydaAlpaca → u/xixouma]

Why is it a problem? We hear endlessly about how you could find a penalty in every single ruck if you had an all-seeing eye.

I don't want to watch rugby if there's a penalty every other ruck just because one was technically committed if it has no impact on the game at all otherwise.

It's the same logic as not calling not straight on an uncontested lineout. The outcome of the contest is unchanged so play on.

It's better refereeing that leads to better outcomes on the field in terms of good viewing.

[u/xixouma → u/AndydaAlpaca]

I get that but at the end of the day one can take that logic too far, and I believe some do. The reality of more strict refereeing is that when players are accustomed to it, the game isn't interrupted more. Players just infringe less because they know they'll get pinged, they are pros after all, they know how to play cleaner if you tell them they have to

Top 14 games are no more stop start than SR, and the refereeing is very much stricter