IRB November Refs

[chief]

http://www.irb.com/newsmedia/mediaz...html#match+officials+appointed+november+tests

Great to see Steve Walsh back on the panel. Not sure if he deserves it, over here he's been pretty poor.

 

[SimonSmith]

We get Pearson, Dickinson, and Walsh.

The right emoticon hasn't been invented.

 

[FKlopper]

Glad to see Steve Walsh back, I guess from the appointments that Marius Jonker is now being trusted with Tier 1 internationals again.

 

[KML1]

And a note of virtual congrats to JP Doyle and Greg Garner who obviously continue to impress having been given IRB Tier 2 appointments.

 

[Ian_Cook]

I am pleased to see Francisco Pastrana from Argentina making the AR's panel. I was impressed with his performances at the JWC earlier this year.

Italy's Carlo Damasco also makes the AR's panel.

I too am pleased to see Steve back.

 

[Dixie]

We get Pearson, Dickinson, and Walsh.

The right emoticon hasn't been invented.

I'd imagine it might feature a blindfolded Lady Justice, holding her scales in one hand and eating a bowl of Angel Delight with the other.

 

[Bryan]

Marius was a shoe-in given 3 solid games in Bucharest in front of the same assessor as that fateful day at Murrayfield last spring.

What I find interesting is very few referees have been appointed to more than one of the Tier-one matches as referee. M Lawrence and Rolland get 2, but one of them is the final RWC Qualifier between two Tier-2 nations. The others are Pearson and Walsh, and even then one of their games involves Scotland. Pfft.

This would appear to go against the approach of "The Best for The Best" that they will employ in less than a year's time, so either they want everyone to get a fair shot so they can start narrowing it down later on, OR they're going to change their approach for the RWC (somehow I doubt the latter).

 

[chief]

How many refs are they taking to the WC?

Generally the appointments for these end of year matches means nothing, and the 6 Nations appointments will be the dead give away for who is going to the WC.

I reckon

Kaplan
Barnes
Lawrence
Joubert
Rolland
Lewis
Bryce Lawrence
Owens
Walsh
Poite

I think we all know Dickinson will not be crossing the ditch to NZ for the WC, after Milan completely took him off the map. I can't see Pearson either, Berdos would also be struggling. Pollock and Brown certainly won't be, nor will Garces. 2015 RWC will be a whole new ball game as I can see about 5 of those refs gone by then.

These folk will be going to the World Cup. Paddy O'Brien said that there were positive reviews for every refereeing performance in the Tri-Nations except for one game in his latest Total Rugby Interview. Every referee appointed to the Tri-Nations got a pretty good game. So I really do wonder who it was. My bet would be on Clancy, Rolland or Lawrence. Consistency would be great hey!

 

[Dixie]

I think Lewis is too old, and Walsh may not have fully rehabilitated himself by then. Plenty of refs knocking at the door - I'd hesitate to bet my mortgage on which of them will get the nod, from this remove.

 

[FKlopper]

I think they will look at taking around 12 referees to the World Cup, although I'm sure all of those on the panel will be going, if not as a referee as an AR.

Here's how I see it...
Certain
Mark Lawrence, Jonathan Kaplan, Craig Joubert, Nigel Owens, Wayne Barnes, Alain Rolland, Bryce Lawrence

Probably
George Clancy, Alan Lewis, Romain Poite, Steve Walsh, Dave Pearson


Possibles
Peter Fitzgibbon, Marius Jonker, Stuart Dickinson, Christophe Berdos

No chance
Andrew Small, Chris Pollock, Jerome Garces, Keith Brown

 

[B52 REF]

FKlopper- i.m seeing one or your "no-chancers" for a beer next week- will pass on the vote of confidence

 

[Ian_Cook]

FKlopper- i.m seeing one or your "no-chancers" for a beer next week- will pass on the vote of confidence

Then say hi to Andy for me!!

 

[Toby Warren]

Please for Steve Walsh on a humna level, but I have tickets for Engalnds NZ and would have been gutted if he had been given that game (seeing as he now an Aussie)

 

[FKlopper]

FKlopper- i.m seeing one or your "no-chancers" for a beer next week- will pass on the vote of confidence

I don't mean that any of them are hopeless referees - to get on the international panel you obviously have to be good.

What I meant by no-chancer is that I don't see them getting picked purely because of experience. Between them they only have a handful of Tier 1 internationals, and I personally think the IRB will overlook them because of this.

 

[Dixie]

Please for Steve Walsh on a humna level, but I have tickets for Engalnds NZ and would have been gutted if he had been given that game (seeing as he now an Aussie)

That's a good point. Is he now considered an unwise choice for both Aus and NZ games, due to the possible perception of a conflict? Tough to give him a Tri-Nations game if so. Perhaps this is why they are letting Argentina in!

 

[Phil E]

Please for Steve Walsh on a humna level, but I have tickets for Engalnds NZ and would have been gutted if he had been given that game (seeing as he now an Aussie)

Me too..........but I am doing a Simon Thomas and going in a box with a customer :biggrin: :wink:

 

[dave_clark]

I don't mean that any of them are hopeless referees - to get on the international panel you obviously have to be good.

What I meant by no-chancer is that I don't see them getting picked purely because of experience. Between them they only have a handful of Tier 1 internationals, and I personally think the IRB will overlook them because of this.

didn't seem to hold Wayne Barnes back for the 2007 tournament.

 

[ExHookah]

didn't seem to hold Wayne Barnes back for the 2007 tournament.

Shhhh, don't upset the Kiwi's, they will start foaming at the mouth again if you bring up "that" match.

 

[Ian_Cook]

I was impressed with Glen Jackson's debut with the whistle in the ITM Cup match between Otago and Canterbury this afternoon.

His positioning was very good (note that he spent a fair bit of time in the defensive line, as is normal for SH referees) , and he communicated well with the players. I can't fault any of his decisions today.

Additionally, he brings to the table an awareness of where the play is going that comes from having been a player at the Elite level. My only criticism... he sometimes referred to the teams by their team names (Canterbury/Otago) whereas I much prefer the use of team colors (red/blue).

Other than that, an "A" pass from me.

What I meant by no-chancer is that I don't see them getting picked purely because of experience. Between them they only have a handful of Tier 1 internationals, and I personally think the IRB will overlook them because of this.

didn't seem to hold Wayne Barnes back for the 2007 tournament.

OK, I'll bite

Some might argue (myself included) that his performances were a clear indication it was a mistake to rush him into the big time with so little experience. At the time he had only refereed one Tier 1 test match (South Africa v Australia in 2007) while other, far more experienced referees left on the sidelines... literally.

The quarter finals must be controlled by the best four referees in the world; no golden boys, no promising prospects, no old-boys network appointments. The players and fans deserve no less. WB wasn't anywhere close to being a top four referee at that time; Nigel Owens, Chris White, Tony Spreadbury and Jon Kaplan were all miles ahead of him.

I sincerely hope that the iRB do not make the same mistake again and send a rookie referee to a world cup.

 

[Wert Twacky]

And I thought Garratt Williamson did a good job of the Taranaki v Southland game. See he's got a Tier 2 international at the end of this month.