Simple ways to make the game better for all

New Year is a time for resolutions, so let me suggest a few for the Premiership. None of them need approval from World Rugby, so let’s just make them happen.

- COLIN BOAG

We’re lucky to have in the Premiership an outstanding set of referees, but there are some areas where I wish they’d tighten up. Law 6.5.a says ‘The referee is the sole judge of fact and of law during a match’. I recently heard a ref saying to a player who enquired about something, “It wasn’t my decision”, and that is just so wrong.

I’m a huge fan of the assistants playing an active role, and the TMO, but to misquote Margaret Thatcher, advisers advise, referee’s decide. If the ref makes a decision, then it’s his decision, and to abrogate his responsibility is unacceptable.

No one knows the laws of the game better than elite referees, so it’s time they stopped selectively ignoring them. A perfect example is the way they insist on coaching players, when they should be penalising them. At almost every ruck, a defending player will step over the offside line – it’s a deliberate ploy to buy a second or two. What you’ll often hear is ‘back’, followed by ‘thank you’. What that actually means is that they’ve cheated, but have been allowed to get away with it.