• There comes a time when the refs should give up their immunity and stop believing that they are above the law.

• Yes, the game must be sped up, but the referees must also pick up the pace and get it right, as well!

Being a top-level referee is a tough job. Gone are the days when the referee’s decision was final. If anybody needs reminding, the programme The Whistleblowers is still on DStv.

Calls that the documentary should have been called The Cry Babies instead are perhaps a little harsh and unfair.

But there comes a time when referees should give up their immunity and stop believing they are above the law.

Lately, in just about every scrum or lineout, the referee can be heard commanding the players to speed up the game.

While the shot clock has added yet another technical complication to what is already a complex game, it has stopped kickers from staring at the posts for minutes until they have meditated themselves into taking the kick.

But then suddenly, during just about every match, all action freezes as the voice of doom comes down to the field from the Television Match Official (TMO). “I just want to show you the actions of player number so-and-so,” says the voice.

And everybody sits back knowing that this is going to take minutes. The referees can’t be rushed. There is no shot clock on the referees. If they want to look at the same movement repeatedly, they will do it.

Ordinary spectators are left wondering what the referee sees after watching the same replay ten times. The replay doesn’t change.

The player will do exactly the same thing no matter how many times you watch the replay.

The United Rugby Championship (URC) match between the Sharks and the Stormers in Cape Town started at the same time as the match between Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland.

The Cape Town match ended a full 20 minutes later.

There were even a few times when referee Aimee Barrett-Theron seemed happy to make a decision, but TMO Marius Jonker kept calling her back. “Let me just show another view,” he called, and back and forth we went again.

And the most frustrating thing of all is they still get it wrong!

While spectators seem to believe that referees only get it wrong when it is against their favoured team, more and more coaches and senior players are coming forward to criticise decisions.

France superstar Antoine Dupont has appeared to criticise the officiating after Toulouse’s defeat to La Rochelle in a Top 14 match following Tolu Latu’s nasty clearout of Simon Daroque.

Latu’s illegal tackle likely dislocated Daroque’s shoulder, but there was also a danger to his lower leg. Latu got no more than a yellow card.

On Instagram, Dupont hinted at “the protection of the physical integrity of the players.”

This is just one example from a weekend of inconsistent decision-making, as many commentators and coaches have mentioned.

Yes, the game must be sped up, but that must include the referees. They must pick up the pace and get it right as well!

Pictured above: Aimee Barrett-Theron.

Source: WomensBoks/X