Venter undoubtedly has a point, something that has been already discussed at length this season. However, all the pundits queuing up to support him are doing so because they have been making this point themselves for months, which has blinded them to the manner of his comments. He fully deserves to be punished for his outburst, not because the RFU should crush any dissent, but because his good point was buried under an avalanche of angry and disingenuous remarks about referees, and this needs attention, as much as the refereeing standards.
There are two separate issues here, and both are important. Making the interpretation of the laws more consistent, especially at the breakdown, is a big one, but so is ensuring that officials are treated with respect. Venter would have been better off biting his tongue and waiting to make a more measured statement at another time, rather than after Saracens’ second defeat in two games, their first losses of the season. Although this is more than just a case of sour grapes, it is noticeable that there was no ranting from him when his side was unbeaten.
Moreover, the game in question, with Saracens losing away to Leicester was not the inexplicable turnaround that their head coach made it out to be. The reversal of a 9-3 first half penalty count in favour of Saracens to 10-4 count against them is an interesting statistic, but not as clear cut as he would like to think. Penalty counts reflect many things, most relevant to this match was the fact that Leicester’s second half performance was greatly improved, and they were on the front foot for much of it. Regardless of interpretation, decisions tend to favour the side going forwards. Penalties are not awarded on an alternating basis, they tend to come in a series for the side on top, followed by a series for the other side when they are on top. An overall penalty count for the match of 13-13 is not controversial. The scale of the turnaround in points terms was actually very small, only three points.
Stuart Barnes and Will Greenwood assessed the game on the Rugby Club on Sky, and concluded that none of the decisions were unusually controversial. Even the sin-binning of Saracens’ captain Steve Borthwick, which seemed harsh on first viewing, was consistent with at least two similar incidents this season, one of them involving another Saracens player. If anything, Borthwick was the victim of consistency, rather than a lack of it.
Venter stated that he thought the referee “was influenced at half time”, a big accusation to be making without any proof – just ask Jose Mourinho. He stated that players talk too much to referees, which may be true, but is the case in every top-flight fixture around the world, so nothing out of the ordinary there. He then raised the Sale v Leicester game from the previous week, stating that Richard Cockerill had been angry at the refereeing, but the Saracens staff felt that if anything Sale had been hard done by. This is baffling, as Venter is using this to illustrate inconsistent refereeing, when in fact he is highlighting inconsistent perceptions of refereeing by those involved in the match. Cockerill later commented: “I wasn’t happy with the referee [but] I went home and watched the video and he was OK”. Moving on, Venter said:
"We cannot (have referees) just rock up and say: 'Hi boys, I am here, where is the whistle? Chuck me an orange.' It can't work like that."
This is obviously wrong, and he must know it. If he wants referees to take responsibility for their conduct, so must he.
This whole situation is at most, only partially the fault of referees. It is down to the IRB to devise laws that work, and then in tandem with the RFU offer clear guidance on interpretation. There has been so much tinkering in recent years that it is a wonder that anyone knows the laws, and it is very clear that many players and coaches do not know them as well as they should.
Eddie Butler thinks that that officials do not need protection, and criticism will not spark a football-esque breakdown of respect, but it is hard to know until it is too late. It is true that rugby and football have different cultures, but the game is expanding all the time, and if it wants its values to remain intact, it has to protect them. There is a right way and a wrong way to raise concerns, and whilst Venter may feel that he had exhausted official channels following some unproductive discussions with the RFU, he could have made his comments to the media in a more balanced way.
As for all those jumping on the bandwagon, they would do well to be wary of turning Venter into a martyr for what was a rather unpleasant rant, and instead properly direct their concerns to those with the power to change things, rather than the referees themselves. Venter meanwhile, has deflected attention from his side’s back-to-back losses, and criticism of their style of play, something his players will thank him for at least.
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