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As part of our #respectURgame campaign,<br />
we spoke to <strong>Ulster</strong>’s Referee Development<br />
Manager Richard Kerr about issues officials<br />
have faced this season.<br />
“I’m one of 130 active referees currently<br />
in the <strong>Ulster</strong> Society of <strong>Rugby</strong> Football<br />
Referees and from speaking with some of<br />
my colleagues as we’ve come back to rugby<br />
in recent months - whilst it isn’t a major<br />
problem - what we have found is some of<br />
the stuff being said from player to player,<br />
maybe spectator to player, and also towards<br />
the referees, it’s just not really acceptable. I<br />
suppose through this campaign we want to<br />
make sure that it’s nipped in the bud and this<br />
just doesn’t become a wider game issue.<br />
“Thankfully in my 21 years as a referee I<br />
have rarely encountered any form of abuse,<br />
but on the odd occasion it has happened<br />
it can leave you in a very lonely place. We<br />
do this as volunteers. We don’t go out on<br />
a Saturday afternoon to listen to people<br />
hurling abuse at us and contesting every<br />
decision we make. It’s really important as<br />
referees we stamp this out at source and<br />
we don’t let it develop in our games, as that<br />
just grows into a wider, bigger problem.<br />
“There’s no better feeling coming off that<br />
pitch when you know you’ve had a good<br />
game and that’s backed up by a few thank<br />
yous and a few handshakes or fist bumps<br />
and you can drive home feeling proud. If<br />
we’ve had a bad game, referees are our own<br />
worst critics and we don’t need a player,<br />
a coach. or spectator telling us so. That<br />
drive home can be quite lonely and quite<br />
difficult and we go off and reflect, as I’m<br />
sure players and coaches do when they’ve<br />
made mistakes during the game. Whilst the<br />
nature of the job maybe is that we might<br />
get a little bit of criticism, once that steps<br />
over the line and becomes abuse, it will<br />
simply not be tolerated.<br />
“The game I was brought up with, the game<br />
I used to go watch my dad play is the very<br />
game I want my son to be involved with, and<br />
future generations moving forward. Integral<br />
to all of that is the core value of respect.”<br />
<strong>Rugby</strong> World <strong>Cup</strong> 2023<br />
Ireland <strong>Match</strong> Breaks<br />
Register<br />
<strong>Ulster</strong><strong>Rugby</strong>.com 53
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