Cody Kuxmann is a Referee at the London Society Of Rugby Football Union Referees, while studying International Relations at Richmond, The American International University in London. He lives in Richmond Upon Thames but hails from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
TWICKENHAM – I was only a minute and 30 seconds into watching the Aviva Premiership Final and I’m thinking, ‘Boy, does Wayne Barnes look slow!’ Regarded as one of the game’s top referees just a short while ago, Barnes now seems to be losing his form. One starts to wonder whether he can he pull his form back within the next season, or if the games have simply caught up to him.
Let’s talk about the game. On paper, I saw a Leicester victory, as the Harlequins hadn’t really played all too well recently. However, the Quins were back in form when it mattered most and were able to capitalize on Leicester’s mistakes. They played to a standard that they had shown off-and-on during the season. As for the Leicester, they just didn’t seem to have the same drive that the Quins did.
Here are some match highlights:
Now for the refereeing…
Perhaps the biggest issue was the Yellow card. The Leicester player came in from the side, and grabbed the ball. I personally don’t think this should have been a card. Throughout the game there was not a trend of side-entry, the player did it well outside of an area where it could be considered professional, and also the Quins were not in a position to quickly play the ball. I feel that the card 40m from the goal-line was a bit harsh.
The other major facet of the game was the scrum. Neither team was particularly dominant, but there was a point where four scrums got reset in a row, with a penalty coming on the fifth. Earlier in the game the exact same situation happened and it was a penalty on the first instance. Once again scrums need to be cleaned up, we don’t want a penalty and reset fest. In this instance, I feel that consistency was not there.
Barnes may have had a lack-luster game, but that doesn’t take away from the Harlequins rousing victory – congratulations to them.
Do you think the officiating impacted the outcome?
