Referees On The Receiving End Of Toxic "Fan" Abuse

As far as Rugby obsession goes it is hard to beat the South African and Kiwis for passion.

Unfortunately, at times this passion can be misplaced as their beloved All Blacks and Springboks come out on the wrong side of a result.

In conjunction with the trolling of referees certain media outlets have put the officials on the spot via polls which quite frankly pile further pressure onto an all ready difficult role.

@SARugbymag posting a rate the ref page…. 🤦‍♂️ Just inviting abuse for the man in the middle #AUSvRSA

https://t.co/ANm9f9l4jq

— Philip Bendon (@PBendon) August 27, 2022

Both sides have struggled so far this season as they have fallen to historic home losses.

Wales went into the republic and picked up a test win which quite frankly could’ve been a test series victory had they managed to hold on in the first test.

New Zealand’s plights have been even more amplified as the All Blacks fell at home to a powerful Irish side losing a first ever home series in the professional era.

Today’s results will not do either side any good as the All Blacks once again fell at home in a historic loss that saw Los Pumas pick up a first ever victory on Kiwi soil.

Jacques Nienaber’s Boks were well and truly trounced in Adelaide by a Wallabies side missing several front-line players.

The hard truth is that at this moment in time both sides are truly average, the Boks employ the worst brand of rugby in the international game. Whilst the All Blacks have yet to figure out how to remain within the current rules as they regularly infringe all the while not appearing to learn from their mistakes.

Can these issues be rectified before next year’s World Cup? Yes, certainly they can. Can the current coaching tickets be the ones to implement change? Possibly not.

Turning towards twitter, the propensity for both sets of fans to have the natural reaction of blaming the referees was rife today and is quite frankly disappointing. Their frustration at the results is fully justified however the shots at the officials are out of line.

For the game to survive respecting the officials is non-negotiable, there will always need to be someone in the middle. Online abuse will clearly be a deterrent to the next generation of whistle blowers who are all too aware of what is being said online.

All-in-all it boils down to one simple fact, no referees = no rugby.

Fans speaking facts….

Hey Springbok fans, just a thought. Instead of going straight to blaming the ref, how about we discuss (1/2):

1. The Boks’ lineout and maul were completely nullified
2. A complete lack of physical dominance
3. Defensively fragile to the inside pass#AUSvRSA #AUSvsRSA

— Stephen Kisbey-Green (@Stephan_KG) August 27, 2022

Oh dear SA blaming ref again, zzzzzzzzzz ,don't swing your arm if you don't want to walk….2 losses in a row. #AUSvsRSA

— Peter Thomas 🇮🇹 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@panthomas) August 27, 2022

All the pundits that wouldn’t “ref bash” after the New Zealand loss are finding by their voices in this game! The ref isn’t losing this game for us, we are!! Boks are horrendous! #AUSvRSA

— Captain Springbok 🤜🤛 (@CaptSpringbok) August 27, 2022

Then the other side of the coin….

Today the Wallabies was OJ Simpson and the ref their lawyer. Not that the Boks deserved to win by any stretch of the imagination, but such blatant fouls by the Wallabies & clear oversights by the ref just sours the game. Not to mention that disgraceful Wallaby 9. #AUSvsRSA

— Sarcastrophe (@pennyroyalpunk) August 27, 2022

The @Springboks started horribly in all aspects of the game. But the officiating is far worse than the boks performance. #SSRugby #AUSvRSA #AUSvsRSA #RugbyChampionship #Rugby

— B Buys (@BBuys14) August 27, 2022

A tweet so bad he deleted his account? Amazing. @rugby_ap is gooone. pic.twitter.com/AskWJVOUGU

— Will McDougall (@WillMcDougall) August 27, 2022

So fkn frustrating to watch.
All the possession.
All the territory.
All the mistakes.
And the ref is the Aussie Nr 16.#AUSvsRSA #Springboks

— Jacques Shark (@Jacques_Shark) August 27, 2022

This ref officiating the game is horrendous. But who ever is the TMO is worse. How was that not a yellow for the no hands tackle on Mapimpi, but Faf gets a yellow for stroking White's terrible looking moustache?!? This is atrocious to watch #AUSvsRSA #RugbyChampionship

— Dijon Correia (@dijoncorreia) August 27, 2022

https://twitter.com/Cole10Damian/status/1563417729914195969

Where things went wrong for the Springboks #AUSvsRSA pic.twitter.com/ntMKx2YPWM

— Jaco Theunissen (@JacoTheun) August 27, 2022