General Information
What is refereeing?
Refereeing, first and foremost, is about facilitating a safe and fair playing environment for players and coaches to participate in. This is a core principal and an ethos that exists from age grade rugby, right the way up to the professional game.
A safe game is about managing foul play, correct law application and providing a playing environment that encourages participation. Fairness is about allowing a fair contest for possession and space, in a way that is consistent for both teams. However, there is more to refereeing than this. It is about managing people, building relationships, communication and knowing the law.
As a referee, if you can communicate clearly and succinctly, players and coaches will better understand your decisions. This involves communicating with your whistle, your primary and secondary signals and your voice. Sometimes you will encounter challenging situations that will require more management. The ability to build a relationship during a game with a captain can help you to manage a team as a whole when the temperature of a game rises.
It is about people management and working with many different personality types and an appreciation of emotional intelligence. You must stay calm in sometimes stressful environments. The language you use, your tone of voice and your body language are all effective refereeing tools. Sometimes, not speaking can be just as effective as speaking.
Refereeing is also about knowing the law. Most referees know the law, but the best referees know how and when to apply it. The referees who progress are the referees who know best when not to blow the whistle.
This requires an understanding of the materiality of an offence as well as a knowledge and feel for the game that allows the referee to understand what the players are trying to achieve. Being able to take all of this into consideration in a split second and make a good decision is the ‘art of refereeing’.
Better referees lead to a better game of rugby which leads to the production of better players. Referee education is paramount to this. All the association/society referees in Ireland attend workshops throughout the season to ensure they are fully up to date with the laws and best practice around their application.
Referees who show a particular ability and potential attend extra workshops and receive further support to allow them to reach their full potential and progress to higher levels. But refereeing is for everyone. Whether you aspire to referee in a World Cup final or are happy to referee age grade rugby, there is a need for referees and a place for you. Without our referees, we do not have a game.
Better refereeing improves that standard of the game with safer more structured matches for our players. This makes for a more enjoyable playing experience for all involved.
The IRFU Referee Department run workshops regularly throughout the season to help improve refereeing standards across all levels of the game. The department also works to further develop evaluators and referee coaches.
Domestically we have close to 500 branch referees. These referees are all volunteers who willingly give up their time to help support and facilitate the smooth running of the game.
They are supported and appointed by their provincial referee association / society. The four associations / society operate under the direction of their respective branch and the IRFU. They are volunteer organisations that do an excellent job in supporting and appointing their members to matches throughout the season.
The IRFU have a national panel of 50 referees who service the All Ireland League and domestic representative matches. These appointments are administrated centrally.
National panel referees are regularly evaluated and coached with feedback from club and provincial coaches welcomed.
If you are interested in becoming a referee we would love to hear from you. Our development staff would be delighted to talk you through the recruitment process. Please visit our Becoming a Referee section for more information and contact details.
