… These collaborations should not lead to a questioning or a permanent criticism of refereeing because rugby is fortunate to have among its values a deep respect for the referee.
They shouldn’t get the wrong role!
Michel Lamoulie is a former referee and was supervisor and selector of World Rugby referees, the international rugby federation. For him the role of a former referee in a staff must be clear
I believe that his first job is to explain the rules to the players and their impact on the game. The why of the rule! The rule if it is not explained, if we do not explain its motives, its reasons for being then we deviate from the game. I believe that some have understood their role very well, others have not. Not understood. They take themselves for supervisors and they seek to criticize the referee. And that is bad. They have to eat a lot of fish because it refreshes the memory – Michel Lamoulie
But beware, this arbitration specialist who still advises Top14 referees today is not opposed to this development. On the contrary, he would have liked to practice it and here is how
I would teach them above all to discover the referee and to play with him, that is to say to perceive his sensitivity on the reading of the game, in particular on repetitive phases like the tackle. Because, whether we like it or not, each referee has a hobby and he persists most of the time in his attitude. So I will teach the players, at the risk of shocking, to play with arbitration. It does not mean playing against the referee, but understanding what he accepts or what he does not accept. How he sees a non-negotiable fault and a negotiable fault – Michel Lamoulie
Same rules but different decisions
Yes, because with obviously identical rules, a referee will not make the same decision as another referee. This requires a permanent adaptability of the players as confirmed by the rugby specialist of France Bleu Gironde Arnaud Carré
We see it in particular during the seesaws, a Top fourteen match the following weekend in the European Cup, you often have a British referee. And one of the big jobs of the week is precisely to watch matches directed by certain referees to see how he makes his decisions, what faults he whistles which faults he tends to let go and adapt permanently. And it is also true in the French championship since each referee has his own way of refereeing because there is a rule, but there is a man, behind the whistle and inevitably, he reacts differently – Arnaud Carré
Not where former referees would be most helpful
This retraining of high-level referees does not appeal to the former pillar of UBB, now manager of Floirac, who plays in national 2, Julien Bouic
They take positions while a referee who is retiring, it would be good if he helped refereeing because we need advice for young young people who are rising. And today, I find it a bit lamentable that they are leaving this sector to supposedly train in the Top 14. Today, I believe that referees need help, not criticism – Julien Bouic.
It is true that there are fewer and fewer referees among young people and yet without them, there will be no game. As for the presence of former referees in the staffs of top-level clubs, it everyone will have to find their place. Judgment will come later.