ERC need to address referee selection

Last season Stade Francais played Munster in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. The venue was Thomond Park. Just as Munster had dismissed the challenge of such highly-rated visitors as Swansea, Wasps, Harlequins, Saracens and Bourgoin in the past, so Stade Francais were to endure a similar fate.

Happily there has been no variation on that trend this season as Bath and Newport experienced what it is like to strive in the atmosphere that prevails at Thomond Park and joined the ever-growing list of Munster conquests in the European Cup.

On Sunday Munster will put that superb record on the line again at the famous ground. And, urged on by a capacity crowd, they will be seeking to make it to the semi-final of the competition once more at the cost of French opposition, Biarritz, who have reached the quarter-final in their first season in the European Cup. In contrast, Munster will be contesting the quarter-final for the third successive season. So too will Stade Francais.

Biarritz lost 35-9 to Leinster earlier in the competition in Donnybrook, but that will not induce any element of complacency in the Munster team or management as they prepare for a match that it is so important to Munster and, by extension to Irish rugby.

Biarritz exacted a full compensation for that defeat in Dublin on their home soil last Saturday evening and ended Leinster's involvement in the competition. That match has left some controversy in its aftermath, centred on the performance of the Italian referee, Giovanni Morandin.

A win by 30-10 for Biarritz will not leave much room for argument about the worthiness of the home win, but the element of dissatisfaction at the performance of the referee and the criticism that has ensued are considerable. They are a cause for anxiety. It is also a reason why European Rugby Cup (ERC) should address the manner in which officials are appointed for the pool stages of the competition.

They are chosen by a sub-committee of ERC which consists of the ERC chief executive Derek McGrath, Peter Boyle, an ERC director from Ireland, Clive Norling (Wales), Owen Doyle, the IRFU director of Referee Development, Ian Goodall (Scotland), Nick Bunting (England), Rene Hourquet (France) and Piero Delaude (Italy).

There is considerable experience of refereeing at the top level on that committee, containing as it does some eminent former

international referees. So far so good, one may say, these men know what they are about. But it is not quite as simple as that and they are hidebound in their appointments in a very important respect.

The position that obtains in relation to the appointments is that referees from all the countries of the participating teams must all get the same number of pool matches.

There are 12 matches in each of the six pools - that amounts to 72 matches. Teams from six nations participate which means that referees from each country must get 12 appointments. So do all the countries have referees of the required standard?

Morandin is one of four Italian referees on the panel. Of course referees must be given experience but equally they must be competent to warrant that opportunity. The report on Morandin's performance will be submitted to ERC and the International Rugby Board for consideration. It should make interesting reading.

The position that obtains at the knockout stages of the Cup is based more on merit, but obviously is influenced by which countries the teams that reach this stage are from. However, none of the quarter-finals this weekend will be refereed by the officials from the European nations who will officiate in this season's Six Nations Championship. That in essence rules out those deemed to be the best in each country.

Those referees have been attending a conference in Argentina this week in relation to their functions, such as law application and other relevant matters in the Six Nations and Tri-Nations Championships. As they did not return until today it was not deemed prudent to ask them to referee this weekend. That is understandable in the circumstances. That decision ruled out Ireland's Dave McHugh, who is the only Irish referee appointed to take charge of a Six Nations match this season.

With the Six Nations series due to start next weekend, it was obviously necessary to have the conference before that and this week was obviously deemed most convenient.

The IRB sub-committee that appoints the referees for the Six Nations and Tri-Nations Championships from the panels submitted from each country consists of Tim Gresson (New Zealand), Dick Byers (Australia), Dave Burnett (Ireland) and a representative each from Canada and Western Samoa.

The man who will be in charge of Munster's match on Sunday will be Ed Morrison of England. He is a former World Cup final referee, who officiated in the 1995 final in South Africa.

Morrison was one of the touch judges at the Ireland-South Africa match last November. It was a match not untouched by controversy, such as the incident when the ball hit him in Ireland's goal area and the referee awarded a scrum to South Africa. And then there was Ronan O'Gara's penalty that the touch judges deemed good and just about everyone with a reasonable sight of the flight of the ball thought had been wide.

As the pulse races in anticipation of another great occasion in Thomond Park on Sunday, let us hope that the match will not be beset by controversy and that it will prove to be another entry in the ever-increasing chronicle of Munster's achievements.