Hansen: 'It's time for two refs'
Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:43
New Zealand assistant coach Steve Hansen believes the speed at which Test rugby is being played these days calls for two referees to officiate in a single game.
Hansen made his bold suggestion in the wake of the All Blacks' 22-3 win over Ireland in Dublin. The All Blacks were also bemused by Ali Williams’ disallowed try.
"I think two referees would be good. I'm not blaming the ref [South African Mark Lawrence]," Hansen told stuff.co.nz
"But the game has changed in so many ways. It's got much faster ... there are so many new laws. Yet the one thing that we haven't changed is the referee. He's still doing what he has always done.
"I think it might be time to look at saying well, we might need two officials on the park."
The All Blacks have had informal discussions with IRB refereeing boss Paddy O'Brien on this tour. And Hansen said O'Brien had acknowledged that things need to change.
"It's getting difficult, it's just the speed of the game," said Hansen.
"It's bigger, faster, stronger. You only have to watch footage of three years ago [to appreciate that].
"I think we need to start looking at ways of helping our referees do what is a difficult job."
Hansen then went a step further by suggesting that neutral referees weren't required as long as the best were used.
"I would personally like to see the IRB take the top 10 referees in the world and put them under Paddy and say, 'right you are doing all the tests'.
"The top six do all the top nations and if you don't go any good, you drop back down to seven, eight, nine and 10 and you get yourself better."
He also added that it is "bizarre" that players could quickly attain 50 tests while top referees took a lifetime to approach the same number.
