Rugby coaches expect a free flow
View(s):“In a poor house, a woman is seated at a table. Her face is thin and worn, and she has coarse, red hands, all pricked by the needle. She is embroidering passion-flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the Queen’s maids-of-honour to wear at the next Court-ball. In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill… and is asking for oranges. His mother has nothing to give him but river water”. Oscar Wilde – Happy Prince.
The likes of the Queens Maid of Honour have been to watch the Rugby World Cup. These include politicians, businessmen, rugby stakeholders and enthusiasts; all wanting to get a glimpse of rugby at its best. They were at the Queen’s ball watching and feeling the gown stitched for royalty as in the story of Wilde. Those who could not afford oranges watched the broadcast. They are those in Sri Lanka who have a passion for sport. Rugby excites them. It is no longer a privilege of a niche community.
This was conformed as I stepped into a bar which is opposite a road that leads to my house about 25 metres away. I have not stepped to the place which I see daily morning and night as I step out and into home for over 20 years. During the World Cup I noticed a giant screen and prompted me to drop in during a quarter-final. The enthusiasm was high and tension was prevalent. All humble ordinary folk, not the royalty of rugby. Not that they knew the laws but they knew; rugby was exciting. The penalty against Scotland was an effort to ensure a victory as they saw it. Not because they had a doubt about the law but that was how they felt. The next time around I explained a reason for the referee to blow at a tackle and a ruck of which they understood little. The fact that intention was to get the ball flowing interested them. I was once told by a butcher that he saw me on a rugby TV show. This is just a few insiders opinion to emphasise that the interest for rugby has grown.
Now we are readying for the Club Season and does it matter that interest in rugby is wide spread? It does as more want action that they have felt. A season post World Cup which will be like the ill little boy asking for oranges but the mother can only give water from the river. The mother has been sidelined and the father has been put in place as a competent authority runs the game. The father may not be a mother but then it will at least be a poor substitute. Do we have the wherewithal to deliver what the masses want?
Even the presence of foreign referees at local game, sometimes, is not taken positively by the local rugby fans - File pic
The referees are a critical component in this equation. Respect, credibility and leadership on the field were most seen taking the game of refereeing to another level in the World Cup. Yet there were mistakes that happened and the game continues. The local rugby following has seen oranges on the grassy pitches of Britain that has seen the referee make the game flow and faster. Will they accept that in Sri Lanka? Practically the skills will be an issue though we don’t want to accept that shortcoming. The coaches I spoke to, expect a flow and want the referees to see things as the World Cup referees saw. A tough asking when the background does not provide a stature to make a call that will not please all but still will make rugby more enjoyable. There is going to be some shouting when things don’t go the way you see on TV.
A forward pass missed or a knock-on that is not seen will not meet the same approval or disapproval as in the RWC but here it will be a growl that is worse than the bite. A question that really arises is when credibility is at stake and a liar is seen with every word that is uttered when it comes to local rugby compared to what was seen in the run of play to the World Cup. The stakes are high this year in club rugby though what is dished is not the same as was seen over a World Cup that saw 271 tries and 2439 points scored.
We do it better in these parts when we help points to be scored to help make possible with a not so sweet advance to the maternal types or throw the book and the card and plead I picked the wrong one and still think that I am the best. Reminds me of the comic characters in ‘The Adventures of Tin Tin’ included the brash and cynical Captain Haddock
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB