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.
KANSAS CITY, MO – This weekend I had the privilege to take a road trip on down to Kansas City to referee at the Heartland 7s. Throughout the day teams came from as far as Fort Worth, Texas and Aspen, Colorado. It was a very competitive tournament, with two of the games in the finals – including the Championship game – going into overtime.
Congratulations goes out to the Kansas City Blues for winning on their home turf. Perhaps one of the most exciting games of the day came in the final between the KC Blues and the Denver Barbarians (who named Team USA 7s star Mark Bokhoven as their 7s coach – click this). The game was very tight all the way through, however the Blues took it home in overtime while having a 6 on 7 man-advantage, due to a undisciplined Denver team. Sorry, the referee in me just came out… But the Denver squad had to be bushed – what with the travel and the heat.
… Which is the perfect segue for my Rant Of The Week. So here goes: Rugby should never be played on field turf! Okay, perhaps I just hated field turf this time because of the extreme heat; the day was 106 degrees (41 Celcius). However, on the turf it was more like 130 (54 C), and this is not an exaggeration. I thought my cleats were literally going to melt completely off! Now, I’ve reffed on some very nice turf – at the University of Minnesota’s Football stadium, for instance. I’ve also reffed on some very questionable turf. Yet, I’ve always found that I like grass much better – and not just for perspiration purposes. The bounces are generally more predictable, the players are livlier and there is much less of a chance of getting turf burn. With the IRB looking to introduce turf into the game, these things need to be considered. I’m for grass-only IRB matches.
I welcome your comments.
