SHOCK NEWS HAS SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR REFEREEING

Another ‘under cover’ operation from the RFU

The news that Ed Morrison had resigned from his post as Head of Professional Referee Development with the RFU, which broke suddenly on the eve of the new season, September 6th, suggested that there was something funny going on and, as we subsequently discovered, that was exactly the case. In fact the more it sank in, the worse it became. By the time you read this there will very likely have been further developments but this has far-reaching consequences for refereeing at the highest levels.

For some time it has been the intention of the RFU to create a new jointly- funded role with Premier League Rugby “aimed at providing an additional layer of security for referees and their assistants.” Call it “a new auditing system,” approved by the Professional Game Board, or whatever euphemism you like, but there is real danger here: the professional clubs, in their constant desire to have control over everything, now want to add the appointment and hiring and firing of referees to their portfolio. Do I have sympathy with Ed Morrison’s decision to quit? I’ll say I do, along with the vast majority of referees/assistants/ TMO’s who have been or are currently involved in the Premiership.

The plans are so far advanced that Premier Rugby and the RFU have hired an independent consultant, former referee Geraint Ashton Jones who was technical advisor to Harlequins between 2005 and 2012 and represented the Royal Navy on the RFU Council. His brief will be to evaluate all six Premiership matches each weekend and feed the data into a centralised pool of information. The Daily Telegraph described it all as “an extra pair of eyes,” evidence that the writer knows very little about the gentleman in charge. His new post follows a report which was commissioned on refereeing standards, initially sparked off by continual criticism of referees by Premiership coaches. If you closely follow some of the workings of the RFU, notably the shambles in ‘reorganising’ the structure of Community Rugby Referee Development just over a year ago, this latest piece of subterfuge will not come as a surprise.

In a move which could well be permanent, former international referee Tony Spreadbury takes over Ed’s duties: he will need all his practical experience and the knowledge gained as Professional Referee Manager to negotiate his way through this minefield. Typically, Ed Morrison has kept his counsel throughout all this, though he is probably fuming. From refereeing the World Cup Final in 1995, memorably graced by Nelson Mandela, his reputation has soared, bringing him into the leading referee administrative role at Twickenham. Here he has served with vision and dignity, taking referee development at the Elite level to new heights. It would be reassuring to think that this mess will be sorted out but I very much doubt it.

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The experimental laws on scrum engagement continue to occupy the column inches penned by our rugby correspondents. I had planned on an update in this column but the need to give the above issue an airing means that it must go on hold.

David Matthews