Referees wearing earrings

[mark.lucas]

I noticed that at least one referee / AR was wearing stud earrings at the Womens World Cup.

Is this a good idea? I'm sure we've had players brush past us during play - the thought of a player's shirt catching it makes me wince.

Perhaps someone who wears earrings can tell me if I am right or wrong.

 

[crossref]

Referee shouldn't wear anything the players can't wear (other than the essentials, like a watch)

 

[beckett50]

Referee shouldn't wear anything the players can't wear (other than the essentials, like a watch)

Why not?

I wear my wedding band - never did as a player.

If I had pierced ears I wouldn't take out the studs.

Next you'll be saying that female referees can't have long fingernails.

Common sense comes into play when we referee, as to what is acceptable and what isn't.

 

[SimonSmith]

I wear full finger gloves.
I wear a CGM.

Why shouldn't I?

 

[Phil E]

in a small village in Hampshire........Harrrummmppphhh.

 

[Rushforth]

Just to add to what crossref and Beckett50 said, I've sliced a finger open on my whistle without any contact with a player.

One of the French players was wearing some sort of hair beads. Not allowed, perhaps, by the letter of the law, but less likely to cause injury than an Acme Thunderer.

Not an issue, particularly for ARs. And I've been accidentally run into by enough women players when refereeing that the risk of the earring that I don't have being tugged at is even less than rings in other places (that I don't have either) being tugged. Just not an issue.

 

[Not Kurt Weaver]

Many have suggested that I should wear my glasses, and others are very concerned that I have misplaced my glasses.

Jokes on them, I don't even have glasses. If players do not wear glasses, i refuse to wear glasses.


This is my twin he does not wear earrings.

 

[mark.lucas]

I wear full finger gloves.

Surely it never gets cold enough down there!

But to reply to other posts, no I never take off my wedding ring and I have two watches - one on each wrist - but I still think this is a dangerous trend.

I guess we could ask Steve Hilditch?

 

[Lee Lifeson-Peart]

A lot of the Cornish Pirates' players wear earrings.

 

[crossref]

Why not?.

I think two reasons
1 safety , items that are banned for safety reasons (eg hard or sharp metallic objects) do not suddenly become safe when the referee wears them

2 respect for the game. rugby has a dress code , refs should respect it. So if you are going to tell players to remove leggings,byou shouldn't be wearing leggings

 

[SimonSmith]

I think two reasons
1 safety , items that are banned for safety reasons (eg hard or sharp metallic objects) do not suddenly become safe when the referee wears them

2 respect for the game. rugby has a dress code , refs should respect it. So if you are going to tell players to remove leggings,byou shouldn't be wearing leggings

WRT1: We wouldn't allow players to carry whistles which are sharp and metallic. They don't become safer just because a referee has one. I wear a CGM and receiver every game. Never had an issue.

WRT2:
Fellas, you have two options. Either I can wear full length gloves and be comfortable refereeing and give you a good game OR I can't,, I'[m going to be miserably cold, and my performance will suffer accordingly. Which do you want?

 

[Not Kurt Weaver]

WRT2:
Fellas, you have two options. Either I can wear full length gloves and be comfortable refereeing and give you a good game OR I can't,, I'[m going to be miserably cold, and my performance will suffer accordingly. Which do you want?

I never thought of gloves, but my fingers have been so cold I can barely hold pencil. Not such a bad idea these gloves

 

[didds]

gloves versus mitts?

My 2p FWTW: I see no reason why generally speaking a ref should't conform to what players are expected to wear etc - with the caveat of the obvious requirements to fulfill the role as ref

eg whistle, watch, pencil, notebook, cards and at some levels comms equipment.

didds

 

[crossref]

..and if I was in charge, I'd certainly stop the ridiculous situation where refs are wearing TV cameras.

TV cameras have no place on the field of play.

 

[Phil E]

..and if I was in charge

Good job you're not. Clearly you have no understanding of the "business" of professional rugby. Its an entertainment industry that relies on TV.

 

[crossref]

WRT1: We wouldn't allow players to carry whistles which are sharp and metallic. They don't become safer just because a referee has one. I wear a CGM and receiver every game. Never had an issue.

refs have to have a whistle, obviously, but you surely wouldn't carry a whistle with a sharp edge.
refs don't need to wear wedding bands or other jewelry that players would be required to remove. So they shouldn't

I am not very familiar with a CGM, I assume it's needed for medical reasons. At the games you ref, wouldn't a player with the same medical condition be allowed to wear it? the images I can see make them look similar to the GPS trackers they wear.

WRT2:
Fellas, you have two options. Either I can wear full length gloves and be comfortable refereeing and give you a good game OR I can't,, I'[m going to be miserably cold, and my performance will suffer accordingly. Which do you want?

If you were, at the same time, making players take their gloves off but also wearing gloves yourself, I think you'd be getting off on the wrong foot.

 

[crossref]

Good job you're not. Clearly you have no understanding of the "business" of professional rugby. Its an entertainment industry that relies on TV.

well, refcams provide such useless angles that, typically, we get about 20s per game of refcam view, and that's normally just 'filler' shots during extended scrum resets. they don't provide any worthwhile TV coverage at all they are just a gimmick.

the pictures they produce are completely unusuable when the ref is on the move - ie when anything interesting is happening - and when the ref is stationary, so is the game and then the spider cam provides much more options.

 

[Phil E]

well, refcams provide such useless angles that, typically, we get about 20s per game of refcam view, and that's normally just 'filler' shots during extended scrum resets. they don't provide any worthwhile TV coverage at all they are just a gimmick.

the pictures they produce are completely unusuable when the ref is on the move - ie when anything interesting is happening - and when the ref is stationary, so is the game and then the spider cam provides much more options.

There's no spider cam at Premiership game...unless they are at HQ.
The infrastructure just isn't there.

It's not about how useful they are; it's the fact that the TV companies insist on it and they pay the big bucks, so they get what they want. Like I said, at that level it's about entertainment not rugby.

 

[crossref]

There's no spider cam at Premiership game...unless they are at HQ.
The infrastructure just isn't there.

It's not about how useful they are; it's the fact that the TV companies insist on it and they pay the big bucks, so they get what they want. Like I said, at that level it's about entertainment not rugby.

I understand how it works, but I think sooner or later someone will get injured colliding with a refcam and everyone will be asking how on earth we let those on a rugby pitch

 

[Phil E]

I understand how it works, but I think sooner or later someone will get injured colliding with a refcam and everyone will be asking how on earth we let those on a rugby pitch

It's already happened, can't remember which game but a player headbutted the camera.
But then players have collided with a lot of things on and off the pitch that shouldn't be there.
It wont change.....until maybe the money dries up.