THE SECRET REFEREE
The Challenge Cup final scrums show how officials must keep a clear mind, says our former ref
YOU KNOW what you’re going to get with scrums as you referee these guys a lot. Even though there’s a disparity in experience and people were talking about the Sharks’ Springbok scrum, you see everyone several times a season.
But you can’t completely put it out of your mind. You can’t pre-judge, you go in there with your experience and make the best decisions you can. You don’t go in with preconceptions but you do have your experience. You know the traits of certain props, so Mathieu Raynal would have had that in his mind in the Challenge Cup final between the Sharks and Gloucester. He would have done a lot of research and spent the week looking at scrums from previous games for both teams and you build a picture. You have to be a step ahead of the players to pre-empt issues. Raynal penalised the Gloucester scrum at the first four opportunities, but you have to stop things as soon as they happen or it becomes a slippery slope. It’s like being a teacher: the minute the kids start being an issue, you have to sort it out or you’ll have absolute pandemonium!
Yes, psychologically, unconscious bias exists and it’s there... But that’s why the best referees who make it to the top will not have that as an issue for them. The coaches in the week plant seeds about what the opposition do and what to look out for. Usually it’s an issue they have identified or they want to distract you from something they are doing. Every scrum is a unique special occasion. We saw Gloucester change their whole front row. The fact it’s your first scrum isn’t an excuse but it can work in your favour. Glo
