Paddy O'Brien really should know better

Friday 20 November 2009
Published By: Ben Welch
International Rugby > Australia

In any sport, the target of the greatest criticism is almost always the referee. Sir Alex Ferguson is known to be no great fan of football officials and recently earned himself a touchline ban by calling the fitness of Alan Wiley into question, while cricket umpire Darrell Hair famously courted controversy throughout his career.

By and large, however, rugby referees tend to escape personal attacks - thanks mostly to the control they are able to exert over the game and the respectful attitude of the players themselves.

That's why this week's attack on Stuart Dickinson by IRB head of referees Paddy O'Brien was all the more surprising and it's led to outrage from the Australian Rugby Union. A somewhat diplomatic statement quite rightly pointed out that the "analysis of scrums is an inexact science", suggesting that such public reviews should be expected of all referees in the future.

Of course, rugby hasn't been immune to refereeing ruckus over the years and the New Zealand Herald recently published a list of what it reckons are the top ten "howlers" of recent years. Coming in at number three is O'Brien himself, for his handling of a game between Fiji and France at the 1999 World Cup. Ironically, it was a scrum that provoked the greatest outrage - with the French clinching victory despite being outplayed after being awarded a late penalty try from a scrum in which they were clearly the guilty party.

You might think that the introduction of the television match official would end such problems, but at the 2007 World Cup Wayne Barnes was slated for missing a forward pass that led to France's winning try against the All Blacks, as well as the harsh sin-binning of Luke McAlister and a host of other errors. O'Brien's response on that occasion? "I thought the referee actually had a decent game."