Referees too often miss the point

Have referees in Super Rugby forgotten some of the basic tenets of the game?

After watching Round Six action over the weekend you can't help but wonder.

Take the Blues v Jaguares game at Albany's QBE Stadium.

Jaguares players were constantly in front of the kicker at re-starts and twice when penalty goals were landed by the visiting kicker players were in front of him before he struck the ball.

In one instance a player was two or three metres in front of the kicker. Under the laws of the game that is an infringement and the penalty goal should not be allowed

Given that referees constantly spend time at re-starts, both at halfway and the 22-m line, asking players to get behind the kicker to the point of being pedantic about it, you would think they would at least pay attention at penalty goal attempts.

They only seem to have eyes for the ball, as with much else in the game. 

What is going on?

In the same game, and no team is innocent here so the Jaguares are not being picked on, there was deliberate intent of diversionary runners to block players from attempting to line up tackles.

Sadly, there is nothing new in this and it has been going on for years but these are clear and obvious obstructions that are being allowed to continue uninterrupted. The referee on the ground makes an arbitrary decision that a player was not impeded.

Where has one of the great sights of the game, the crash tackler, gone? He has no show of lining up a player from a distance out and delivering a bone-jarring tackle to dislodge the ball and sometimes change a game because someone is deliberately getting in his way to prevent that happening. Why not just call it gridiron, or American football, and be done with it?

The crash tackle, a legitimate tactical option, has gone the same way as the ruck and the four-point dropped goal - down the road, and not always for the better.

Another point. The notion that halfbacks would have to feed the ball straight into the scrum is now recognised for what it always was, a joke, but should that slackness in rulings be allowed to apply to lineout throwing.

In a key moment in the Waratahs v Rebels game in Sydney on Sunday, the Waratahs had a lineout throw which was clearly down their line, yet the referee standing behind the lineout with an unimpeded view did nothing. This was in spite of a roar from the Rebels' side of the lineout, 'Not straight'.

It is often said that the best referees are those who are inconspicuous and who have a feel for the game. Those qualities are not being exhibited consistently enough by referees who are more guilty of being a distraction in the playing of the game.

Fekitoa and Tuipolotu bring exciting qualities to All Blacks

New All Blacks Malakai Fekitoa and Patrick Tuipolotu are determined theirs will not be a short-term stay in the side after being named in the squad to prepare for the three-Test series against England starting on Saturday at Eden Park.

Both are Auckland developed players but Fekitoa has made his mark with the Highlanders in Super Rugby while Tuipolotu has become the first member of the 2013 New Zealand Junior World Championship team to make the Test stage.

Fekitoa said missing out on the Blues had been a significant motivation for him when he was picked up by the Highlanders and he went into the Super Rugby campaign determined to prove what he was capable of.

He didn't expect to move as far quite so quickly but was delighted to have the chance to experience the All Blacks environment.

Fekitoa said he had been able to show his capabilities so emphatically as a result of the belief of the Highlanders' coaching group.

"They never told me not to do anything. They just want to make sure I develop and that I am happy and they have given me every opportunity to make sure I perform," he said.

Fekitoa has set his sights high and said he had always wanted to be the best no matter what team he was in.

"Whether I was playing Sevens in Sri Lanka or Sevens in Tonga, I always wanted to beat people and I just want to get into this team and learn as much as I can from the senior guys.

"I just want to learn, develop my game and test myself at this level to see if I am good enough," he said.

His first taste of the All Blacks environment was during the two pre-season training camps in May and he noticed an immediate benefit.

"It got my timing up and when I got back to the Highlanders I could see things clearer and I could see things a bit easier and I felt a little bit better than where I was before the camps," he said.

He also felt his exposure to the requirements of top level player had shown that he was not too far away from reaching that standard and it had been a good start for him.

Tuipolotu was still getting used to how quickly events had moved for him in the game.

"It's way ahead of where I thought I would be. I didn't think I would get game time for the Blues at the start of the year, but I am happy to be where I am now and I'll take my opportunities as they come," he said.

In the Blues environment he felt coach Sir John Kirwan had helped him express himself.

"I like to run with the ball, I like to be in open space. JK [Kirwan] has pretty much let me do that in terms of our game plans back at the Blues and that has allowed the coaches to see what I can do," he said.

And being named in Sunday's squad had shown the benefits of that policy for him.

Getting into the camp environment in May with the All Blacks had shown him that talent wasn't enough to allow you to progress. It was all about hard work.

"Coming into the camp you see how the Richie McCaws and Keven Mealamus, and all those guys, do stuff and I sort of try to take a page out of their book to try and improve yourself to be like them," he said.

Now that he has made the step to international level he wanted game time to show that he could stay in the team. He didn't want to be a one-time All Black he wants to go far but with the realisation that he still has a long way to go.