I have been astounded by the support that Ireland's Johnny Sexton has received this week after his petulance and disrespect towards referee Craig Evans during Leinster’s United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks last weekend.
“That’s twice! Get him off,” Sexton screamed at Evans after Sharks centre Rohan Janse Van Rensburg committed two acts of foul play within the space of a minute. People have been coming to the party saying that Sexton was justified to push for the right opinion, that at 37 years old he has earned the right to conversation with a referee. What rubbish! And if Sexton’s comments constitute a conversation, rugby is about to go down a serious rabbit hole.
The sport has lost so much in recent years, we cannot lose the character of the game that has always championed unreserved respect for the referee. That rugby has maintained this relationship with top match officials for so long makes it special and it is in stark contrast to the theatrics we see every weekend in various soccer leagues.
Sexton may have been justified in his opinion, he was not justified in his delivery. He should have been carded along with Janse van Rensburg, and the argument that his seniority entitles him to that sort of behaviour is a terrible stance to take when you consider that there are younger players who will follow his example.
The Sexton incident does not stand in isolation though, and we have seen it way too many times this year. Nic White’s remarks to referee Mathieu Raynal, after he correctly penalised Bernard Foley for time-wasting in the first Bledisloe Cup Test between Australia and the All Blacks, were a disgrace.
There needs to be zero tolerance on talk back to the referee and player petulance. Allow it for one and not another and you start digging the sport into a ditch that it can’t climb out of.
“That just cost us the Rugby Championship mate.” It was ridiculous and a schoolboy player would never say that to a referee, and that logic has always characterised professional players’ interactions with officials.
What has changed? Equally, Bundee Aki — teammate of Sexton at international level — was red carded for a reckless clean out on Seabelo Senatla in the Stormers’ opening game against Connacht. The cleanout ended Senatla’s season, such was its recklessness, yet Aki was up in arms with referee Gianluca Gnecchi after he was very simply told “Direct contact to the head and high degree of danger”. “Where do you want me? Where must I clean?” argued Aki. He should have been further sanctioned for his behaviour.
The irony of all three incidents is that the referees all made the correct decisions, informing the players of exactly why the decisions were made. There have been many absurd referee calls throughout the history of the game, where players have kept their cool and the issues have been raised after the game. There needs to be zero tolerance on talk back to the referee and player petulance. Allow it for one and not another and you start digging the sport into a ditch that it can’t climb out of.
Respect for referees has remained an unwritten rule throughout the rugby ages, and now is the time for the sport's custodians to put it in writing. Make it official. Give consequence to these on the field player outbursts.
I am the first, every weekend, to question the referee and match official inconsistency that runs rife across rugby matches, leagues and tournaments. Be that as it may, it’s an issue very separate to how players conduct themselves in relation to the referees. There needs to be some sort of independent council that judges referees’ performances and decisions, and it remains an indictment on the game that a system as such has not yet been put in place to ensure more consistency.
However, the last people to compromise that council are the 15 players on the field. I’ve found it incredibly disturbing to see more and more backchat emerge over the past two years, and it is equally disturbing to see the apparent justification from ex-players and pundits too.
Come on guys, if we can’t decide what constitutes a neck roll from a cleanout, a high tackle from a great hit or an intercept from a tap down, can we at least remain in agreement that rugby, through player on-field interaction, maintains the value of respect for match officials.
• Mark Keohane is the founder of keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer and the digital content director at Highbury Media. Twitter: @mark_keohane
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.