The whistleblower

The Rugby World Cup was a washout for our national team but referee Alain Roland was there to fly the flag for Ireland at the final. Michael Moynihan spoke to him.

HE WAS that rarity in France: the Irishman who had a good Rugby World Cup. Alain Rolland was one of the most impressive referees at the tournament, and his decisive handling of big games led to the biggest gig of all — the final between England and South Africa.

Was it a dream come true? “For sure. You can’t get any bigger than the Rugby World Cup final. When it was announced two weeks before the day, we’d always said as a group of referees that we’d enjoy the tournament. Okay, a couple of guys would have been disappointed, but it’s like any team selection — there isn’t going to be a position for everyone. For me it was a tremendous few weeks, and the day of the final was extraordinary.”

The run-up to the final featured the usual mind games in the press — about England’s scrum, about South Africa’s unease with same. Did that affect Rolland? “I don’t pay much attention to that. What happens one week is no real indication of what will happen this week. One thing I don’t do is analyse teams in previous games, because that can have no impact the week you referee them.

“I don’t look at teams from a preparation point of view; I have my own routine for preparation as to how I deal with certain areas — the breakdown, the scrum, the line-out — and I work my way through the same process before each game. As that game unfolds I have a number of plans to deal with what happens on a given day, so I’m prepared. As [Welsh referee] Derek Bevan says, you prepare for the worst and you hope for the best.”

Whether it was the worst or the best, Rolland came under the spotlight when England’s Mark Cueto came agonisingly close to a crucial try. The Dubliner had the eyes of the world on him as he waited for a decision from television match official Stuart Dickinson.

“It was a very tight call: there was no doubt that the grounding was fine, but it was too close to the touchline and I looked at Joel [Jutge, touchline referee]. We would have prepared for such a situation in our pre-match briefing and we did exactly what we’d said we’d do. It was too close for us to call so we had to involve the TMO.

“There’s no doubt the foot was in touch before the grounding of the ball when you saw the reverse angle. I looked at Joel and the two of us were in agreement when we saw the reverse angle — ‘that’s touch’.

“He came back with that decision and at that time I had a funny feeling I knew what was coming next, so I called (South Africa captain) John Smit over and explained to him ‘if we don’t have the try we’re going back for the penalty’. I did that because I reckoned Stuart would be coming back to me with the touch decision.

“If you asked me the hardest job in the world it’s Stuart’s, it’s the video ref’s on a day like that. But we got the right outcome.”

Rolland and Jutge had the benefit of seeing what Dickinson was looking at during the brief delay.

“We don’t always have big screens in stadia, while some stadia have a rule where they won’t show what the video ref is looking at, and others will. In Paris we were looking at what Stuart was looking at, at the same time he was, and you couldn’t help but look at the screen.

“The first few times, when you looked at it from the front angle, you were thinking ‘yeah, that could be alright’, but when you saw the reverse angle, the more you looked at that it was definitive that it wasn’t.

“But to show you how difficult it is for the TMO, there are still times when you won’t get the right decision even from them. That comes back then to how important the question is that you get from the referee — the ref must assist the TMO with what he thinks in the way he asks the question, so you’re both on the same page.”

Rolland wasn’t impressed with the way his colleague Wayne Barnes was pilloried in the New Zealand press when the All Blacks crashed out to France.

“We as referees can always be an easy target if something doesn’t go right for a team. That’s a fact of life. If blame can be apportioned somewhere else, it will. If there’s a particular beef with a referee in a particular game, however, there’s a procedure to deal with it. It doesn’t do anyone — or the game — any good to go through the media.”

In common with many observers, Rolland feels one minor change would improve the standard of rugby generally.

“We need to take some of the kicking out of the game somehow. There’s too much kicking, too much ping pong going on at the moment. Players want to play with the ball in hand, referees want to ref the ball in hand and the spectators want to watch the ball in hand.

“In pool matches in the World Cup teams were going out to win, but by the knock-out they’re trying not to lose — they’re afraid of being adventurous because they’re afraid of making a mistake. That’s cup football, but some teams are capable of playing a lot better if they go looking for a win rather than curtailing the opposition.”

With the World Cup out of the way, it’s back to the Heineken Cup, but if you think that means time for a breather, think again.

“Some Heineken cup games are more intense than Test games, no question,” says Rolland. “Don’t get me wrong, the Six Nations is always going to be the premier competition in this part of the world, but the Heineken Cup has a history of bringing up absolutely cracking encounters. I’ve had the privilege of handling some of them, and it’s a competition I love to referee. It’s why we do what we do, you want to be involved in one of the best competitions in the world. I can’t wait for it to start.”

Examples of those standout games? “Too many to give! I’ve had some of the knockout games, including the Toulouse-Wasps final, and that particular game was magnificent. But I’ve had pool encounters between Leicester and Wasps which have been cracking games.

“My only regret is that as an Irish referee I don’t get to handle Munster games in Limerick. I’m friendly with Joel Jutge, who’s done some of the biggest games in Thomond. Some of his best games have involved Munster. Nigel Williams did Wasps-Munster in Lansdowne Road before he retired and that still sticks out for him as one of the best games ever.

“Most of my refereeing dreams have come true, but one would be refereeing Munster-Wasps in the Heineken Cup. I’ve refereed Magners League games in Thomond and Musgrave but the Heineken Cup is a step up.

“I’d love to referee a Munster Heineken Cup game, but it’ll never happen!”