Rugby Football Union - Allegations of criticism of match officials

Allegations of criticism of match officials

by RFU Press

Introduction
Match officials, like players, sometimes make mistakes. There is a process by which they are assessed and team managers can input privately into that assessment. If match officials are deemed not to be competent to officiate at the highest levels then action can be taken to remove them. Notwithstanding questions from the media about the performance of officials, professional members of team and Union management must resist opportunities to make critical comments in public.

Match officials are an easy target and should be protected from abuse and public criticism by others within the Game. Such abuse and criticism (particularly when couched in vitriolic terms) undermines public confidence in the philosophy of the sport, it sets a poor example lower down the Game and can have a detrimental effect on recruitment of players and officials. Rugby Union prides itself on its ethos of integrity fairness and sportsmanship – and those who run the Game do not want to see the sort of aggressive behaviour towards match officials which has become endemic at all levels in some other sports. For this reason the RFU has a policy of zero tolerance against those who abuse or publicly criticise match officials and has taken disciplinary action against those who have been found guilty of breaching this policy.

Additionally IRB Regulation 20.1.5 states that all Unions, Associations, Rugby Bodies, Clubs and Persons “shall not publish or cause to be published criticism of the manner in which a referee or touch judge handled a match.” Any infringement of IRB Regulations is an offence under RFU Rule 5.12.

It is for these reasons that the Disciplinary Officer of 6 Nations has asked the RFU to investigate whether statements made by Andy Robinson and Colin High have breached IRB and RFU Regulations.

The Facts
Immediately after the end of the match between Ireland and England on Sunday 27 March Andy Robinson was interviewed live on television. He said:

“I’m absolutely spitting, two tries we’ve been cost ….… I’m livid actually. ….
……. We’re being killed by small margins….. couple of incidents there today very frustrating…… We’ve got technology and don’t know why we didn’t use it.”

6 Nations officials made no complaint about the contents of this interview.

On Tuesday 1 March an article appeared in the Daily Mail entitled “England Backlash – Robinson to lodge official complaint over Dublin Ref”. In it Andy Robinson was said to have called two former international referees to Twickenham for video analysis of controversial decisions. He was quoted as having said: “I want to go through the tape with Steve (Lander) and Colin (High). Having done that, I then want to speak to the IRB about it. I think only one side was refereed. They pulled us down at the first line-out and we didn’t win the ball. The referee saw that but he didn’t award a penalty.” Andy Robinson does not dispute that this was an accurate quotation.

However the article contained longer reports of statements alleged to have been made by Colin High, the RFU Elite Referee Manager in which he opined about decisions made by Jonathan Kaplan. In particular he was quoted as saying:

“Jonathan Kaplan is in the top 10 in the world but that wasn’t an international performance. It would not have been acceptable in the Zurich Premiership. If one of my referees had done that, I’d have had my backside kicked for making the appointment. If any English referee refereed like that in a European match, there would be an inquest. No question about that. If someone had performed like that, he would have been pulled from the next game.”

Colin High does not dispute that this was an accurate quotation.

It was this article, rather than the post match television interview which attracted the attention of the 6 Nations Disciplinary Officer and the IRB. On 2 March the CEO IRB wrote to the RFU objecting to the “overt criticisms of a match referee in the media” made by Colin High and asked the RFU to investigate. Pending the outcome of that investigation the IRB provisionally suspended Colin High from officiating in the 6 Nations (cancelling his appointment as a referee assessor on 19 March) and stated that his situation will be further reviewed at the next (match official) selection committee meeting in April 2005.

Colin High has apologised for making these statements and sincerely regrets them. He says he was caught off guard by Peter Jackson of the Daily Mail and knows that he should not have said what he did. He has written letters of apology to the IRB, 6 Nations, the SARFU and the ZP Directors of Rugby.

Sanction

Andy Robinson
There was no overt criticism of the match referee in the post match television interview. Although he was clearly very angry and suggested that technology should have been used as it was available, he did not mention the referee at all. Indeed he acted with great control during the interview and no objection can be taken about what he said. The 6 Nations agree with this assessment.

The article in the Daily Mail mainly related to comments made by Colin High and there is only one short critical comment made by Andy Robinson. Although this is technically a breach of IRB Regulation 20.1.5 it is at the very bottom end of the scale. Any censure, therefore, should be proportionate to that assessment. In those circumstances Andy Robinson is formally reminded of:

• to avoid making critical comments of match officials during press conferences and interviews,
• the terms of IRB Regulation 20.1.5.

This action is consistent with standards applied domestically – disciplinary action is only taken against ZP Directors where criticism is overt and specific.

Colin High
The statements made by Colin High represent a much more serious breach of IRB Regulation 20.1.5, particularly in view of his position as Manager of Elite Referees and his own stance in combating referee abuse and public criticism. He was caught off guard by the Daily Mail reporter, but as a professional member of the RFU he should have been much more careful. This offence is very similar to offences by ZP Directors who have been subject to disciplinary action and any sanction against Colin should be commensurate with penalties applied to them. As this is potentially an employment matter it should more appropriately be dealt with by the CEO/RFU. In those circumstances I recommend to the CEO/RFU that he should:

• warn Colin High formally about his future conduct, the written warning being recorded;
• confirm Colin High’s provisional suspension from officiating as an international referee assessor by the IRB – whether he officiates again being left to the IRB selection committee;
• note that Colin High has written letters of apology to the IRB, 6 Nations, the South African RFU (particularly Jonathan Caplan) and the Directors of Rugby at ZP clubs; and
• ask Colin High to make a donation to the IRB’s Tsunami appeal of £1,000.

Jeff Blackett
RFU Disciplinary Officer 5 March 2005

STATEMENT FROM COLIN HIGH AND ANDY ROBINSON

Elite Referee Manager, Colin High and England Head Coach, Andy Robinson have been informed of the decisions made by the RFU Disciplinary Officer and both have accepted them. Both have acknowledged that they will comply with IRB Regulation 20.1.5.