THE BIG FIGHT IS A THING OF THE PAST

David Matthews notes a missing element in top class rugby

Before Dylan Hartley took the field as the new England captain there was wide speculation as to when his 'reformed character' might be put to the test and when we would see the first big fight. In the event (two rounds of games completed) there has hardly been even "a spot of argy bargy" as the great Bill McClaren might have described it. Is it all going soft, players no longer wishing to inflict damage on an opponent? Not really, but as a result of all seeing television coverage, the use of the TMO, endless replays, all the officials wired up for instant communication and the presence of an independent citing officer, getting away with anything is not easy.

The players are well aware of being spotted by any one of those methods and realise the folly of being off the field for ten minutes or worse. Think back to England v Wales in the Grand Slam season of 1981 and events leading to the sending off of Paul Ringer or the match at Cardiff six years later when the opening exchanges (Dooley and Bainbridge were well to the fore) were almost unsafe; unlikely any of the culprits would have escaped sanction nowadays. The game that followed on that first occasion was no great spectacle but the first fifteen minutes were a disgrace.

A good bust up in a match which is already keeping spectators on the edge of their seats is almost permissible and there have been instances when it has added to the entertainment. Whilst that might sound like heresy from a former referee, and there is nowhere he would rather be less, than in the middle of it, see if you can recall matches which seemed to have everything. If you are unfortunate enough to have the whistle there are few golden rules: blow the whistle and stand well back, sounds like an instruction on a firework, do not attempt to get involved in restraining players, along with the assistant(s) try to work out who was responsible and then be very decisive.

The staying clear of a brawl which involves nearly all the players was employed with an interesting variation by an esteemed colleague of mine many years ago. He walked off the pitch in a Lancashire Cup game at Widnes to go and lean on the barrier, only returning once it had calmed down. At the time he described it as "pure theatre" though I had my doubts whether the RFU, notoriously sensitive about protocol, would have approved. There was a high profile incident, again a long time ago, when leading referee George Crawford from the London Society walked off after ten minutes of the Bristol v Newport game. The match did resume, with the referee from the Colts game summoned and predictably not experiencing the earlier troubles. Media reaction was generally to support his action, but if you understood the workings at Twickenham you probably knew differently and sure enough that was the end of his first class refereeing.

Shouts of "let's have a good fight" have been known from the sidelines at a dour match and sometimes an all out brawl has worked wonders in livening everything up. If the referee emerges with credit for solving it, more power to his elbow. I am sure the England squad, though conscious of the need for more of an edge to their game, will be keeping away from the "big fight.".