Best performance in European games this weekend was during Dragons v Bayonne...

... and goes to Luke Pearce ...

Yep, we are all quick to slate the ref, but I would like to say that the so called experienced refs, such as :-

Monsieur Rolland; Mr Clancey; Mr Barnes; Mr Poite, Mr Kraplan; etc... can definitely learn something from this young up and coming English ref.

He kept control of the game, whilst remembering the key attribute of a good Ref. That is, the fans come to see the players, not the individual with the whistle.

Ok, as a Welshman, not the result I wanted to see, but at least this time it was a great game of rugby not ruined by the egotistic man with the whistle.

Well done Luke... A great performance for you, and in my opinion ...

Ref of the Week..

Depends what you want, I suppose. He let Bayonne infringe at ruck time a lot. I know refs etc say you could spot a lot of offences during a ruck, but blatant things like not rolling away and in from the side should not go unpunished.

Still, players not rolling away would've at least been solved by a gentle assist with a Dragons player's boot (bring back rucking).

Risca Rev wrote:Depends what you want, I suppose. He let Bayonne infringe at ruck time a lot. I know refs etc say you could spot a lot of offences during a ruck, but blatant things like not rolling away and in from the side should not go unpunished.

Still, players not rolling away would've at least been solved by a gentle assist with a Dragons player's boot (bring back rucking).

Why does rucking need to be "brought back". There is nothing stopping you rucking for the ball and unintentionally giving a gentle shoe to a guy on the wrong side. Conor Murray did it today at one stage for Munster.

Intentionally stamping down on a player is illegal and always was.

I don't think enough players do it anymore for fears of being done for stamping. Certainly our players had ample opportunity to do it yesterday, but didn't. That said our forwards aren't the toughest.

Rev,

It looks like Dragons aren't really all that pushed about the Amlin.

On the subject of referees, I thought that Wayne Barnes was very good today. No big mistakes, quite consistent and played the game as he saw it with little preconceptions.

Risca Rev wrote:I don't think enough players do it anymore for fears of being done for stamping. Certainly our players had ample opportunity to do it yesterday, but didn't. That said our forwards aren't the toughest.

I agree with Rev, there is fine line between stamping and rucking while accidently cleaning your shoes on someone that happened to be a bit slow to roll away from an offside position... sometimes its down to the referee and player reputation.

Rev

Can't agree with you more, the breakdown is trying to be tidied up with more and more regulation, IMHO they need to loosen the reigns, allow the attacking side to monitor their side of the breakdown more.

I'm not talking about stamping, but a lenient view on raking/rucking would certainly put off teams who base their games on getting someone the wrong side of every ruck!!

thebluesmancometh wrote:Rev

Can't agree with you more, the breakdown is trying to be tidied up with more and more regulation, IMHO they need to loosen the reigns, allow the attacking side to monitor their side of the breakdown more.

I'm not talking about stamping, but a lenient view on raking/rucking would certainly put off teams who base their games on getting someone the wrong side of every ruck!!

This already happens a lot. Go back and watch any of the games over the weekend and you'll see the scrum halves all giving naughty players a dig with their boots to get the ball away or to highlight infringements to the ref. It's just another smart bit of play at the breakdown and i'm sure any teams not doing it will pick up on it soon enough, it's one of the few ways to consistantly get quick ball.

And if you play at lower leagues you'll feel it too!

Interesting point re rucking (albeit slightly off topic).

If good old fashioned rucking was allowed, I agree players would think twice about getting on the wrong side of the breakdown, accidently of course. But there is also a down side to this...

I mean, if Richie McCaw wasnt allowed to get away with his accidently being on the wrong side, would he still be considered as the best 7 in the world.