Jeff Probyn: Time to bin the sin bin and keep the game fair

In a week that should have been all about the new Elite Player Squad the spotlight continues to burn on the referees after yet more controversial decisions following last weekend’s games.   Referee JP Doyle awarded two penalty tries against Worcester, no problem with the first, but the second was highly controversial given that Leicester‘s scrum was obviously moving forward before the ball was put in and, when it was eventually fed, it went straight in to the second row.
Incidents like that and the increasing use of the yellow card are slowly poisoning all who watch or take part towards referees who are trying to officiate in what is now perceived as a fast-moving and highly pressured game.
In fact the game has always been fast and pressured; the only difference now is that a number of people are earning their living at it, so much more pressure is put on referees to get it ‘right’.
The problem is  that ‘right’ is a very subjective point of view, given that each time a referee makes a decision someone will feel he has got it wrong and that will usually be the person/team or club that is on the wrong end of his judgement.
Two weeks ago Leicester’s head coach Richard Cockerill let rip at referee Andrew Small for failing to make the ‘right’ decisions and he was joined by Harlequins Conor O’Shea last week, who basically branded referee Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts incompetent.
Both their teams had won their games so it added weight to their comments and even drew some sympathy from RFU head of refereeing Ed Morrison although he would have preferred a more private conversation.
I must say I don’t agree with Ed in that referees that get it wrong should just get a private ‘slap on the wrist’.
The game is now a big spectator sport and the paying public deserve to know that those officiating are up to speed and know what for and why they have blown their whistle.
Having said that I also think it is wrong of the head coaches to show double standards by berating referees one week for not making the ‘right’ call and the next fail to comment on a referee making the wrong decision that effectively wins their team the match.
The other refereeing issue is the number of yellow cards being dished out on a weekly basis and the effect that has, not only on the games, but also on the league.
Rugby Union is a 15-a-side game that is rapidly being converted into a 15 verses 14 man game, spoiled for all by an overactive use of the sin bin.
As the administration of the yellow card is just as random as all the other controversial areas of the game, it should be something that is reassessed and the punishment changed.
A yellow card should not be accompanied by a visit to the sin bin and I think the sin bin should be removed altogether.
I know many will say that would be likely to increase the number of cynical, professional fouls but there is already a punishment in place should that occur and if the referee decides that a player is deliberately cheating, a second yellow card can be issued and that is an automatic red where the player is sent off for the rest of that game.
Instead of the current three card rule that sees players called before a discipline panel to be assessed for a potential ban,  it seems logical to me to bring uniformity whereby two yellow cards accumulated across all competitions trigger an automatic one-match ban.
There would still be the usual right to appeal the yellow cards, but it could stop the game being spoiled for both the players, who have an increased risk of injury during the temporary suspension of a team member, and the fans that pay to watch a 15-a-side game.
It would also have the benefit of making matches truly fair competitions – and that could reflect on league positions as results would not be skewed by one side or the other losing a player for ten minutes.
Talking of a 15-man game brings me   to the real story this week, Stuart Lancaster‘s latest EPS.
With the 33 players that he has chosen for his senior squad Lancaster seems to have got the balance about right between experience and youth, although experience in this case is down to a few young players who have a handful of caps as opposed to those with just a few. The quality that permeates this group is a willingness to throw caution to the wind and give it a go and that’s something that usually takes years of being together as a squad to build.
The England management team have managed to foster in the players a confidence in each other that has the effect of allowing them to play the game without fear; fear that they will be dropped if they dare try something different!
At times we have seen flashes of a style of play that has been talked about but seldom achieved by any England team – 15 man rugby, a synergy of a collective game played by both forwards and backs seamlessly filling the role needed at that time.
If Lancaster and his crew can maintain that belief and build on it, we could be in for one hell of a Six Nations.