In praise of the ref.

I am the worlds worst when it comes down to condemnation of refs. But I must say that IMHO Romain Poite done a splendid job today.

I'm probably the opposite as half the time I dont know what theyre on about.

I think its an important point though in that each week we get to see a cross section of ,many of our top performers. How does everyone see the refs from their prospective matches. None seem to stand out as alarmingly bad and where refs are concerned no news is probably good news.

But where anyones interested how did everyone rate the refs in their supported teams matches...or is everyone just prepared to 'wait' until they can have a go at them?

Did not see Wales play so cannot comment on Poite.

I thought Jackson went well - first thing I noticed was his positioning, unlike some refs never in the way. He took time to make decisions which ensured he got things right. He was given a bad steer by Joubert.

Saw 30 minutes or so of Garner in Italy/Tonga game - seemed to go OK.

Barnes was a little fussy and had decided what he was going to concentrate on at the breakdown. His decision makinmg was not wrong - but I always worry when attacking team offences are prioritised over defending team.

So impressed was I by France I barely noticed Nige. A good sign.


all in all I felt the refs were much better than the players.