Paul Rees looks at the pressures on the men and women in the middle and asks what can be done to help them

Who would be a rugby referee? Not enough, it would seem, although any fall in numbers has been mitigated by the far fewer teams being run by grassroots clubs whose concern over officials is with quality rather than quantity.
Technology was meant to help referees but in both rugby union and football it has too often deepened debate rather than dampened it. And a problem for both sports is that the system is accessible to those watching at home in front of the television rather than tho...