Going to be a big surge in rugby n the next 4 years. And somewhere along the line, someone will realise we need more referees to help the game flourish. Will your Society/Club be ready?

While I’ve missed that Saturday morning/lunchtime trip up the A3/M27, it’s been great to be at home supporting Mrs R and doing normal family stuff, and watching the micro people growing quickly! I guess that’s what you normal people call a “weekend”.

But yesterday, I headed east, along the A27 into sunny (not) Sussex.

Reacquainted myself with my usual front row brief patter, and the good chat and banter that is the AR briefing. Good game ensued, home win secured with BP and the most important thing the losing coach had to discuss was about the use of the technical area. More than happy to listen to his problems if that’s all he had for me…

Not suffering too much this morning, so can’t be that old and out of it! Just got to get cracking with the fitness and get back into tip top shape.

Hope everyone else has had a good start to the season, whether whistling, playing or coaching.

Stay well
Ref

The Refblog family expanded last Saturday and we welcomed Isaac into the world. Weighed in at 7lb 10 and was born here in Refblog Towers at 2205.

All doing really well

One when that’s done, a new dawn will soon be breaking in the Refblog household. Refblog Jnr II is due to put in an appearance in a few weeks so it’ll be back to less sleep, and trying to do a good job of being a daddy and helping Mrs R! Should be fun! Does mean Im popping this reffing malarkey back in its rightful place down the priority list. Too often, its not – not something Im particularly proud about but they (the Refblog family) are the most important thing. There’ll always be rugby, and matches to referee. But for a while, Ive got more important things to focus on. Looking forward to it and will keep you updated.

For those in play offs, or Cup Finals, or tournaments – Good luck and enjoy!!

Anyway, I just stumbled on his new blog – his pearls surrounding the challenges he is on through Lent this year. Well worth a read – here.

I too have given up a few things – chocolate (obviously!) and then crisps. Im nearly a week in and the resolve is holding out despite the efforts of Mrs Refblog who bought a bumper bag of Walkers the other day (other brands are available!) and my own stupidity in that last Monday I opened up a packet of yummy Germany choc squares with Marizpan on them – a fact Id forgotten I’d done when I decided to drop Choc for lent. Careless. They still remain opened on the side in the kitchen. Must take them to work tomorrow!

So if you see him during the next three weeks – offer him water. If you see me, offer me anything as long as it’s not chocolate or crisps!

As you may have gathered from my Twitter feed, the Refblog family have moved home. Well, sort of. We’ve bought and own a new home – we haven’t yet moved into it. Joys of updating a home lived in by others for over 20 years. Let’s just say that our friendly plasterer is being kept in dust sheets for a few months!!

So when we get all that done, it will be a few coats of paint, some new carpets and we’ll be able to move in!

Oh yeah, and I’ve squeezed in a few rugby matches too. Nice to see some new places too. Jersey – what a great place!

With the impending Refblog Jnr II in the offing, I’m not going to be round for the end of the season, so I’m being used as a troublesweeper while my comrades in the Champ refs squad concentrate on the play offs. I’d love to be involved at that level, but with so much going on in the Refblog world, that’s where my focus has to be.  And it wont be long before I need to be careful about how far away from home I go!

Looking forward to being involved in some pressure games of a different sort – with promotion and relegation at stake throughout the leagues, it’s good to have the confidence of my masters to be dropped into these games. Hopefully I can pay off that confidence by staying off radar and out of controversy’s way. That is after all, what we all try and do.

First stop – Daily Mail Cup semi final on Saturday!

Fingers crossed!

Lots of good stuff in this feature on BBC website

News from the IRB about scrums.I can already hear the smirking of people relating to the put in being refereeing, but in my view, that is missing the point. Fact – referees cant look at more than one thing at once. If the front rows didnt mess around, then we wouldnt need to focus on them, and maybe watch the put in. They do, so we cant!

I do get a little tired at people blaming refs for all the mess. If the players didn’t try and cheat in this area, it would be simple. Rugby players don’t pass the ball forward (a law) but will do many things against scrum law. Why? Somehow, this all seems to come back to the referee, with very little comment/direction focussed on the players. Just a thought….

Key bit for me:

IRB policy which mandates that referees should crack down on illegal front row binding with a collective emphasis on ensuring that the tight head prop binds on the body of the loose head prop and not the arm and the loose head prop adopts the correct body position and binds on the body of the opposition tight head.

Looking forward to Saturday already!

Ref

IRB and 6N coaches commit to tackling scrum

(IRB.COM) Wednesday 26 January 2011

 

Coaches from the Six Nations participants pledge to work with the IRB to deliver a stable scrum platform at the elite level

Coaches from the RBS Six Nations participating Unions have thrown their support behind the IRB’s commitment to address scrum issues at the elite level of the Game.

Currently 60% of all scrums collapse in Tier 1 internationals and 40% of scrums are required to be reset while the average time taken to complete a scrum has risen from 41 seconds to 53.

Despite a slight decrease in the number of collapses and resets since the new engagement sequence was introduced last year, the IRB remains determined to tackle the issues and ensure that this critical facet of the Game is a spectacle and a contest.

Coaching representatives from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales pledged to work with the IRB to deliver a stable scrum platform at a highly positive and productive forum in London on Tuesday evening.

In addition to expressing their support for the scrum engagement sequence, the coaches also gave their backing to the IRB’s policy of the strict application of scrum Law, including ensuring straight put-ins. The coaches also support the IRB policy which mandates that referees should crack down on illegal front row binding with a collective emphasis on ensuring that the tight head prop binds on the body of the loose head prop and not the arm and the loose head prop adopts the correct body position and binds on the body of the opposition tight head.

This collaborative approach will be critical in assisting to address the problematic aspects of the scrum. Last year a similar approach agreed by all Tier 1 coaches led to a crackdown in key areas of Law: offside at the breakdown; offside from kicks; illegal maul formation and strict application of the tackle Law. This resulted in a return to attacking Rugby.

“The meeting was extremely constructive and highly productive. All found it beneficial and it was encouraging to see universal agreement from the coaches about the need to continue to penalise the clear and the obvious in the five key areas of Law and in particular the need to address the scrum issues that are currently experienced at elite level,” said IRB Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien.

“We are encouraged that teams recognise there is a collective responsibility to ensure that the high number of collapses and resets is reduced. The coaches expressed their full support for referees to employ a zero tolerance policy towards engagement offences and have given a commitment that their teams will endeavour to be compliant in producing a stable, steady scrum by binding correctly. The scrum is an integral facet of the Game and by working together we can target the issues while ensuring that player welfare continues to be the most important consideration.”

A directive will be issued to all Unions reinforcing the message. The coaches forum has become a regular fixture ahead of the RBS Six Nations, Tri Nations, June and November Tests and underscores the IRB’s commitment to an open and transparent process of collaboration and communication between the IRB and its Member Unions in all areas of refereeing practice.