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'He certainly doesn't stop talking': Retiring Kiwi official Glen Jackson names the most memorable player he's refereed
By Online Editors
Retiring New Zealand referee Glen Jackson has come across a multitude of players in his decade-long officiating career, but nobody has been more memorable than All Blacks halfback Aaron Smith.
Jackson revealed on Friday that he is retiring from refereeing after the personal disappointment of missing out on selection for last year's World Cup in Japan.
In a statement released by New Zealand Rugby, the 44-year-old said "the time is right" for him to move on, although he still hopes to be involved in rugby over the coming years.
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The former Chiefs and Bay of Plenty first-five, who also played over 100 times for Saracens in the Premiership and represented the Maori All Blacks in 2004, hung up his playing boots in 2010 and made a swift transition into officiating that year.
Jackson made his first-class debut in the Heartland Championship, and made his Super Rugby debut just a matter of months later in 2011.
He would go on to take charge of 88 matches at that level, adding to his 60 matches in the Mitre 10 Cup and 32 test matches, which includes four appearances at the 2015 World Cup in England.
However, it's during his time in Super Rugby where Jackson would have encountered Smith while playing for the Highlanders, where his competitiveness was clear to see for the outgoing referee.
"I always enjoyed reffing Aaron Smith," Jackson told Stuff.
"He's a class player and I enjoy everything about how he plays. He certainly doesn't stop talking and some refs might find that quite hard."
As a former player, Jackson believed his own experiences helped him with players as chirpy as Smith, which he said wasn't an uncommon trait for a halfback.
"The beauty of being a player, you learn they're not the best referees," he said.
"You realise it's in the heat of the moment, how competitive he is, and he'd always come up pretty quick afterwards to say he probably went too far there. But I enjoyed his banter and how he played the game."
"As a referee, you're always going to make a mistake and it's never that bad to say 'sorry, boys, I clearly made a mistake there'."
Jackson will stay on board with New Zealand Rugby as mentor for younger officials until March, and will travel to South Africa this weekend for a SANZAAR referee camp.
It isn't known what his next career step will be, but after 25 years of distinguished involvement as a player and referee, another role within the rugby fraternity seems imminent.
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Latest Comments
I think it was a better rugby destination for him.
He was developed in Melbourne and had a relatively brief stint there. I think he was possibly dropped out of the squad for the return of someone like To'omua (also a Melbourne local) in 2019 ahead of the RWC. But then he wasn't picked up by another Australian team and went to play in Japan when he only really seemed to play a hat full of top level games (maybe injured for long periods??) before he went on to Scotland. But it was only in Scotland that he started to get a lot of consistent game time and selection.
The thing is, no one talked about him being a missed opportunity in Australia before he left - a little like Mac Hansen. But he has been able to forge a top level career since leaving. Both men only had a handful (5 or 6?) games at Super Rugby level before they made a decision to leave (or had it made for them I suppose). Other countries have gone on to develop them and that is great for them and it is probably good for the global game as it means the best players are rising to the top - if not in their birth country than in another. I think there are a lot of issues with poor player development in Australia but I don't know if these two blokes are very good examples of it.
Go to commentsOk I understand. Give them my number please Nick.
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