Assessed in the Sun

I was looking forward to the season kicking off properly, a Surrey Conference 1 match between two Old Boys sides. Thus, it was disappointing to arrive at the ground to discover the visitors had cried off and it was now a friendly. Further excitement ahead of the game was that I was due to be assessed by the Society, the first time in about two seasons. 

The weather was unseasonably warm so the prospect of an open game on an extremely large pitch was a little daunting; I've played game on smaller pitches than the in-goal! Further disappointment was avoided as the visitor's  prop finally arrived, but spent most of the rest of the afternoon rolling around hurt. How can props be so fragile?

The first half saw the sides evenly matched, good open play but a very high penalty count, White drew a final warning from me about 30 mins in as they killed the ball. There was no consistent pattern, but in a league game it would have brought a card earlier. The teams went into the break with the home side 13-10 to the good. The second half was an avalanche of White, hard running from their centre with excellent support at the break down saw the home side run out 56-10 winners. Fitness and fresh legs on the big pitch certainly was a factor, I could feel the running taking its toll on my own legs.

Thankfully it was a very positive report from the assessor, the best thing she could say saw that the game was well within my comfort zone and that I wasn't stretched. Some minor development points but these were clearer secondary signals and changing my position more often at the line out. Over all I am very pleased, hopefully these will improve my future games and get me promoted. Those teams up there need me to give them a good game, as JP Doyle might say.

An Assessor Calls

A lousy night’s sleep due to a sickly toddler is hardly good prep for my first league fixture of the season, never mind one that learn I am to be assessed on. Knowing you are being judged by someone other the players and crowd (i.e. someone that knows what he is talking about) is excellent for development, at the top of the game it carried out at every game with all the video highlights to go with it.
It was clear before that kick-off that the Home side (Blue) had an enormous advantage up front; their tight-head alone looked like he accounted for half the pack weight. He acknowledged that the visitors (Green) looked a little light and that he would go easy on them. I told him that I was happy for him to dominate, but not destroy; safety first.
Blue started strongly with dominate territory and good forward control, but the Green defence was resolute but they put pressure back on themselves by not find touch with kicks. This was a good deal more edgy than recent games, things simmered through out. An early incident saw Blue winger chip through, and the Green defender stood his ground as the ball flew over his head. Instead of stepping around or running into him Blue nailed him with a huge tackle! Penalty Green tackling the man without the ball, it was dangerous as the defender wasn’t expecting it. Two Blue tries did carry question marks; the first came from a Blue maul 10-15m out, the ball carrier detached from the maul and brushes another player, was it clear and obvious? In retrospect, yes and it should have been a scrum to Green. The next one was a forward pass which I couldn’t see as the defenders were obscuring my view. The assessor confirmed the forward pass but said it was understandable given my positioning which in itself was fine. Unfortunately for Green, they didn’t play the whistle and the Blue run in was easier than it should be.
Half time and the team turned around 17-3 to Blue but there was frustration that they had not got more out of their possession. The assessor introduced himself to me and I was surprised that he wasn’t an old pass-it type that usually carry out these duties. He gave me a couple of pointers for the second half, largely that my kick-off positioning wasn’t good – despite being moved there by a previous assessor and I was told to watch out for Blue 6 in the line out as his elbows and arms where in plenty of places were they shouldn’t be.
The second half started and an early line-out clearly shows the Blue front jumper interfering with Green, but as the ball is going over the top, it’s a quiet word as a run past, “keep your arm to yourself No 6”. A few minutes later it’s a free kick as the arms go in again, and later it’s a full penalty at which point the message gets through. Nevertheless, Blue continues to dominate despite a neat try from Green. A couple of sweeping wide tries finish off the game but it comes at a cost as the penalties against Blue mount, mostly for not rolling away from the tackle and going off their feet. A general warning to the captain is closely followed by a yellow card, though the assessor said this should have come sooner. Not that it mattered as apparently the miscreant managed to slip back the field un-noticed. The final point of interest was a disallowed try as beautiful Blue move was hauled up just short of the line, the Green tackler rolls away and Blue scrambles forward to ground the ball over the goal line. Decision; playing the ball on the ground, penalty Green. Final score, Blue win 32-8.
To be fair, Green were better than the score suggests but their weak scrum didn’t give them a platform and their forwards were too keen to get into an arm wrestle with a much better pack. Despite the niggle, edge and penalty count (17-8 against blue) the feedback from the players seemed to be positive
The assessor had some good feed back for me particularly about positioning at kick-offs and line-outs, which I tried in the second half to good effect. My penalty kick positioning was wrong and this allowed the Blue kicker to bring a touch line kick in 15m and I need to get closer in at rucks give my directions to players and then get out to the short side. Hopefully, there will be enough positive support to get moved up a level at the Christmas promotion board.

Do us a favour?

Here in London, and I assume most other places, each referee gives out cards to the captains of the teams we officiate. The idea is that we are then scored on our performance and if there is a problem, or we are doing well, we can be independently assessed by the Society. Our grading are then changed up or down. The cards take 2 minutes to fill in and I even provide a stamp.
I try to get feed back from captains in the bar post-match but the card gives them a voice for what they aren’t prepared to say to my face. I hope they will be honest with both the card and over a beer.
There are a couple of problems, the first is the percentage that get posted back; this season only one match has seen both cards returned. I give up my afternoon to do something I enjoy, all it costs the team is my petrol money and beer or two and they get an afternoon of rugby. How much effort is it to fill in the form and post it back or hand it to me in the bar? Less time that it take the barman to pour the first round.
My second gripe is teams that have been on my wrong side all afternoon marking me down out of spite. They weren’t honest with themselves on the field, they can’t be honest with me on the cards. Having been around the circuit a couple of years, it is clear that one club in particular seems to consistently score me lower than my average. They are also a side that are ‘challenging’ to manage on the field. It’s a shame because the facilities and organisation are first rate, but clearly the ‘esprit de sport’ is flat, something you would hope wasn’t a function of the leading public school that feeds the club. LondonRef Jnr won’t be learning the game there despite the convenient location.

Uplifting Afternoon

It was to be two games this weekend, a Surrey 4 league match for Saturday and U16 game for the Sunday.

A crisp and clear afternoon in Egham with the home team up against Wandsworthians and what looked like a very square pitch, plenty of width, anyway. Being ushered into the home-side’s changing room because there is no referee room is always disappointing. It’s comfortable having somewhere to escape to reflect on the match, especially if you have a tough match. Still, they were a friendly bunch and there was plenty of excitement about a tour to Hong Kong, Australia, NZ and LA; it sounded a good one.

Reflection from recent matches meant I wanted to focus on avoiding back-chat and a Society tutoring session from Wayne Barnes on the misdemeanours of the tackler were the key areas to think about. Part one was soon challenged by the Wandsworth South Africans, but a couple of sharp warnings saw pitch comment down to an acceptable level. I read over on rugbyrefereeblog that there is recruitment problem for SA refs, it is hardly surprising given the chippiness of your average SA player over here.

The game progress well with Egham enjoying good possession and territory but a couple of neat interception tries giving the visitors a comfortable margin. The rucks were a little loose and the Wandsworth back row took advantage, coming in at the side. The chippy SA openside eventual caught my attention at a defensive scrum 5m out. I called him back as he detached and then, as the scrum wheeled, he burst around the back and pounced the ball. The look of bewilderment as I showed him yellow was a picture, I later explained that there were one of three penalties from his actions and he could pick any one for his card given the general warning I had already issued

The home team took advantage of the extra man to add two tries to bring some balance to the scores.

I learned at half time that I was being officially assessed; I was confident with my first half display and continued that into the second. It has been two years since my last assessor visit so it was great to get some objective feedback. Generally, I did well; good positioning but a few too many penalties, stop these with an earlier whistle at scruffy rucks. Furthermore, I need to work on my pitch authority (I’ve been working on this but clearly more to do) and I need to improve my speed off the mark (fewer pies)! He was impressed enough to recommend an upgrade, so there something to look forward to.