‘The World at Their Feet’

Some words of wisdom which

 still hold good for the Referee.

“The secret of it all gentlemen, calmness.” The words of the late, much respected Gordon Mackintosh, speaking to a meeting of the referees way back in the early 1980’s on what made a good referee. He was a distinguished figure in rugby circles, serving as Lancashire County RFU President, President of Waterloo and President of the Liverpool Referees’ Society. I am sure he would have approved of two of our rising stars in England, Ian Tempest from the Liverpool Society and Luke Pearce from Devon.

Both of them were involved in Premiership action when Ian refereed Wasps v Gloucester and Luke took charge of Northampton v Saracens in games featured on television. The two matches each carried ‘potential’ but both Luke and Ian handled them with authority and accuracy. In Ian’s case two sendings off were required but neither of them produced the usual debate and did not appear to disrupt the flow of the game. In the process of bringing these two referees through the ranks the RFU have carefully provided the right appointments and promotion at the correct time. They are now both employed by the RFU as full-time referees, enabling maximum time to be devoted to training and preparation. Luke’s progress has been slightly ahead of Ian with a taste already of International rugby as Assistant in a number of games.

So, what is the secret? Like special skills in any sport, is the ability to control a game without appearing to be flustered and under pressure a question of flair or can the art be cultivated? ‘It’s a young man’s game’ is normally used to describe the development of players but the same applies to Referees and the RFU make every effort to identify young talent and ensure that it is put to maximum use. Whatever you thought of the Refereeing in the World Cup the criticism of not being in control or under pressure could not be levelled at any of the Referees. Which suggests the International Rugby Board made a good job of the appointments to establish consistency and avoid glaring controversy.

You will have watched matches at a much lower level than what we have in mind for the two referees concerned and noting how when the temperature of the game has risen will see the Referee ‘go up’ with it and exacerbate a situation already close to getting out of hand. The idea of the man in the middle being ‘unseen’ for large parts of the eighty minutes but popping up and solving a problem unobtrusively still holds good. How often have you heard the unwitting comment ‘didn’t notice the referee’ without realising that he is probably enjoying a good match.

Both Ian Tempest and Luke Pearce have the world at their feet as full-time Referees, having already sampled the delights of travelling all over the world to undertake a variety of games. Next time you watch a game and fail to notice the Referee, consider the words of Gordon Macintosh when he made his simple observation on the qualities of a Referee.