Leinster Match Program – Article 14

Welcome to another high quality edition of referees corner. If you have missed any issue, they are all available on our website www.arlb.ie. Croeso and Pob Iwc! to Nigel Owens  and his Welsh Rugby Union colleagues Ian Davies and TMO Jonathon Mason and a hearty Bonjour to our good friend Romain Poite of the Fédération Française de Rugby.

We hope you have an enjoyable afternoon gentlemen and manage to get the game finished on 80 minutes with all ball boys on the field. Of course congratulations to Romain, will referee the third and final Test match between the Lions and New Zealand this summer.

Well done also to Helen O’Reilly refereed Italy v France in the Women’s Six Nations a couple of weeks ago.

Schools Rugby

The dust has settled on the Bank of Ireland sponsored Leinster Schools Senior and Junior Cups. Well done to Belvedere College on a great win in the Senior Cup. We are awaiting the replay of the Junior Cup at time of writing following the excellent 7-7 draw in the first final. Of course these great finals could not have happened without some great refereeing. There was a team of six involved in the Senior Cup Final in the RDS. Congratulations to Paul Haycock on a fine game and a well-deserved appointment. Paul was assisted by Barry O’Keeffe and David Williams, Barry Armstrong and Jonathon Geoghegan , John Carvill was in the TMO box . For the Junior Cup final Brian MacNeice was in the middle for an enthralling fixture played in difficult conditions.

Area Meetings

This season sees a continued rise in attendances at area meetings, thanks to the hard work of the area representatives. This month we were looking at the tackle / ruck area and positioning of the referee. Tackle/ruck is the 2nd most observed phase of a game for a referee during a game. There are probably 600 things or more to observe in 80 minutes of rugby. At least 30% of this happens at a tackle or ruck with over 150 tackles / rucks per game.  Within the tackle /ruck there is a lot to observe such as tacklers releasing tackled players, players arriving on their feet, ball carrier making the ball available, players arriving through the gate and so on. The list in endless and correct knowledge of what to look for and positioning can help and awful lot here. Communication is also very important here. If you are listening to ref link during the match you can observer how a referee positions himself but also what he says – clear and concise. We are trying to get consistency across the board through these session, so that all referees are approaching the game consistently.

We also had great presentations from Wayne Sheridan on life as a match commissioner and Dermot Blake on the road from beginner to National Panel referee.

Dinner

The annual dinner of the Leinster Rugby Referees is the highlight of our somewhat limited social calendar and is always a great event. It will take place in Lansdowne FC tonight and will be hosted by Leinster Rugby Referees President David Mac Donald. A large gathering of provincial presidents, referees, assessors guests and friends will attend the evening which was organised by the Referees Administration committee under Simon Owens and Wayne Sheridan.

Concussion

Concussion in rugby remains a hot topic. The IRFU have released a series of videos covering concussion. These videos are to assist SENIOR AND JUNIOR PLAYERS, COACHES, REFEREES and FAMILY MEMBERS to understand the importance of recognising and properly managing players with concussion. You can download the IRFU Guide to Concussion STOP-INFORM-REST-RETURN on the IRFU website or view the REFEREE video on our website.

Finally we would like to wish our refereeing colleague Damian Poder a speedy recovery from his illness and we look forward to seeing him back on the field as soon as possible.

Do you think you have you got what it takes to be a referee? The Leinster Referees always need more referees and opting to become one may be the best decision you’ve made for a long time. Feel free to make contact with the Leinster Rugby Referees at denis.collins@leinsterrugby.ie or contact by phone Denis Collins at 01-2235107 or David O’Brien at david.obrien@irfu.ie

If you are interested in becoming a referee get in contact with us through our facebook page, our website www.arlb.ie or through twitter @leinsterreferee.