CrapRefs.com

Wayne Barnes let the game flow. He allowed defensive teams an opportunity at the ball in tackles and allowed attacking teams time to recycle their own. He required tacklers to release the tackled player and he did not use the whistle to establish his presence like so many referees do in a high intensity international. [...]

Australian coach Robbie Deans is an astute operator. His scrum has been under extreme pressure during their European tour and he has been on the offensive to try and deflect attention but it seems his pleas for leniency from referees hasn’t worked. Claims of unfair treatment were lost on Bryce Lawrence Prop Ben Robinson was [...]

Both were obvious from the TV and both went unpunished so let’s leave it at that. It’s not good to have one side’s supporters feeling hard done by after a test match. Better that the matter be settled on the field and the better team winning. The All Blacks were very lucky in 2009. The [...]

Kevin Mealamu was guilty of head butting England captain Lewis Moody at the Twickenham test – it was clear to all. The 4 week ban he received seemed fair – possibly even a litle bit light given the Brian O’Driscoll spare tackle that he and Tana Umaga got away with back in 2005. The ban [...]

There are a lot of tackles being pulled up (and yellow cards given) for tackles that are around the shoulder rather than dangerous. Rugby League has laws that allow this kind of tackling. Players are in no more danger from tackles that come over a shoulder than they are any other. The slow-motion replays on [...]

[This one's been done to death I know but I had drafted the following without publishing it but meaning to. Given the subsequent discussion on the About page - I'll post it now anyway if for no other reason than to have at least one embarrassed Kiwi call it like it is] This was weird [...]

Most of the calls went against Australia and almost none were deserved. Al Baxter got pinged several times where he did nothing wrong. This was a particularly tight match and so it is difficult to know whether any of these calls had a significant bearing on the outcome but the All Blacks did kick a [...]

For too long, Jonathan Kaplan has stood alone as the world’s best referee and the only Southern Hemisphere ref worth his salt.   Marius Jonker was not flawless but he showed good judgement and a calm disposition in trying conditions as the All Blacks fought to save face against the French in the second test. [...]

The Lions scrum was too good for the Royal XV but they were not allowed to profit from the advantage. Assistant coach, Warren Gatland’s assessment was that “We felt that they were standing up under pressure and we got nothing out of it.” The first scrum at the 30sec mark of this video led to [...]