We Need To Talk About The Pro12 Refs

The Pro12 wants to be taken as seriously as the Aviva Premiership but is too often let down by shoddy, uneven, below-standard officiating, writes Lee Calvert.

Refereeing is a crap job that very few people want to do.

Players make mistakes all the time but are generally forgiven for their errors: the forward passes, handling errors and poor kicking options. Referees, on the other hand, have every peep of the whistle pored over with CSI-level scrutiny. It really is very unfair. It is in this context that the Pro12 referees are being judged, but even if we are being at our most fair-minded, the unfortunate fact is they are often not up to scratch.

The issue has become a talking point once again after Irish referee Dudley Phillips awarded a Rhys Ruddock try for Leinster vs Cardiff recently that looked a clear double movement, before then adding insult to the Welsh side by sin-binning flanker Josh Navidi for what looked instead like accidental offside. Cardiff lost the game narrowly and these decisions were pivotal.

The quality of refereeing in the Pro12 has been an issue for quite a while. Last season saw a number of dodgy calls including Sam Davies of Ospreys having a try ludicrously ruled out for double movement vs Connacht and Duncan Weir of Edinburgh having a last minute try allowed despite a clear forward pass vs Dragons. Pat Lam completely lost his shit after one decision from a Welsh touch judge cost his team Connacht a result at Cardiff, to such an extent that he forced journalists to gather round his laptop so he could prove the linesman wrong, then actually said the words "I've had texts from quite influential people agreeing that the decision is wrong.”

Everyone can point to poor decisions made by officials in any league or tournament. Is the standard in the Pro12 really that much worse? They do have the world’s best Nigel Owens on their panel after all. Owens aside, the panel is an issue. The highest profile refs after him are John Lacey, who permanently has the on-field demeanour of a man who has accidentally wandered into shot behind a live news report, and George Clancy, who likes to referee the scrum like it’s a new game called “BAFFLE!”

But the problem with refereeing in the Pro12 goes beyond individuals. There are fundamental structural and practical issues that remain unaddressed. For starters, the Pro12 league, the elite competition for four tier one nations, does not have the TMO for every match. Yes, you read that correctly. Decisions that can be referred in one match cannot be referred in another. It makes the league look like some ramshackle garage band that has to share one amplifier between all the members.

The make-up of the panel is also skewed towards Wales and Ireland. There are 17 refs on the panel, with only two from Scotland and one Italian. This makes it impossible to have neutral officials for every match, thus any error is often judged through a prism of bias or conspiracy. For the record, there is no suggestion that refs are biased in any way, but the league creates this problem by not having a full spread of officials from each member nation. Italy has plenty of problems to deal with aside from referee appointment, but Scotland in particular need to take a long hard look at their ref development program.

Finally, the consistency with which the refs interact with players and their other officials, including the TMO, is often questionable. Often rulings are not effectively explained or worse, clarity is not sought from TMO when a decision has been made that is marginal.

The Pro12 is constantly fighting to enhance its reputation to be up there with the likes of the Aviva Premiership. The idea that the Pro12 is a second rate competition may be unfair, but with so many question marks around something as fundamental as officiating the league is not doing itself any favours.