Referees are designed to be able to give a fair ruling on the pitch, whilst staying well clear of the action themselves. Once in a while, the man in the middle can get just a little too close to the action, however.
This was the case for referee Stu Curran in the Bunnings National Provincial Championship this weekend. The original match-up was due to be Wellington against Taranaki in the fourth round of the championship, before Curran got involved.
Despite the game hosting a series of famous names, including the likes of Nehe Milner-Skudder, it was Stu Curran that took centre stage.
As Taranaki were on the attack the referee decided to offer himself on the short line off of nine. Unfortunately, the move had clearly not been practiced enough on the training ground, as the ball was spun far too fast and far too high for the oncoming referee to take cleanly.
Taking the ball straight to his face, he instantly dropped to his knees blowing up to halt the game. Very reminiscent of the old schoolyard saying ‘my ball my game’.
Following a tap on the head from his soon to be ex-scrum-half, a brilliantly timed photo was taken and everyone was all smiles again. Swipe to see the video below:
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