Four Irish referees took different paths to Rugby World Cup and close knit friendship

Andrew Brace, Chris Busby, Joy Neville and Brian MacNeice, a quartet of Irish officials at the Rugby World Cup in France in largely disparate roles marked by different journeys along a pathway to this point, but close knit in friendship.

It’s an important support structure because officiating in modern rugby is no bagatelle and the inter-reliance on the team – referee, assistant referees and the television match official (TMO) – is paramount to doing a good job, one that adheres to the maxim about the less visible they are the better they have performed.

A constantly changing landscape, when it comes to law changes or tweaks, or a different emphasis on interpretation of same can make it more difficult when ostensibly the goal is to improve rugby from a safety perspective and as a spectacle. The TMO bunker is the latest hot take, allowing a yellow card to be upgraded to a red with an off the field adjudication, while the game continues.

Brace is one of 12 referees chosen by Joel Jutge, head of referees in World Rugby, assisted by a panel that included Bryce Lawrence, Craig Joubert, Tony Spreadbury and Phil Davies, upgraded from his role as an assistant referee four years ago in Japan.

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It’s 10 years since he first picked up the whistle shortly after arriving in Ireland to begin work as a community rugby officer with Munster. Brace joked that it was all the giving out he did about referees that led to him being challenged to see if he could do better. John Lacey, Peter Fitzgibbon and Olly Hodges assisted with his development.

He recalled “chasing shadows” in his first high profile outing, a British and Irish Cup game and quickly appreciated that mistakes were commonplace for those learning, the trick to try and make fewer with each passing game. In 2017 Brace took up the offer to become a professional referee as part of the IRFU’s high performance referees panel, thereby no longer having to juggle two jobs. He hasn’t looked back.

On-pitch officiating decisions are scrutinised to the Nth degree, multiple camera angles and replays relayed on stadium big screens with the armchair whistlers baying in the stand, placing ferocious pressure on the match officials. Media too can be an unforgiving caste.

[ Ireland’s Joy Neville to make history as first woman to officiate at men’s Rugby World Cup ]

Brace admitted: “We all agree that it is not getting any easier. For us as a group it is not being affected by the external noise, being true to what we do as a team and what we control. I try to drive my team to make those strong on-field decisions where possible.

“We all have had games where you are in the spotlight more than you want. You must get the balance right, the big decisions right and that will always be the challenge in any game. That won’t change, the philosophy for me doesn’t change on the field.”

Chris Busby, who is among the group of assistant referees for the tournament in France, came through the Ulster system. He explained: “My pathway is different to some of the other guys in that I came into the Ulster system and then the IRFU.

“I was very much a community ref, I spent the first few years in my refereeing journey, refereeing third XV rugby, fourth XV in the back end of whatever place in Ulster I was sent to each Saturday.” Let the record show that his first match, circa 2011, was an Ophir seconds match.

He continued: “There’s a lot of support for people to help achieve whatever ambition and potential that they have. David Wilkinson just happened to see me at a game and felt that I had some sort of potential. From there I got more opportunities in Ulster and a little more support. I was able to take a lot of confidence from that, pushed into the national panel. Johnny (Lacey) was still a professional referee, and he came to watch me in I think my second Division One game, an AIL match in Cork Constitution.

“You felt that he spotted something there, a little bit of potential. It’s been a little bit weird if I am being honest. I have had wonderful opportunities and support from Dudley (Phillips) and the union to referee outside Ireland.

“It’s a little bit surreal when I think about starting at Instonians fifth XV (now that I am going to the World Cup). There is a place where, if people have potential, have ambition and are prepared to work hard the opportunities are there.”

Brian MacNeice is one of the two Irish TMOs – the other is Joy Neville – the elder statesman, as his first refereeing experience dates to a J3 match between UCD and Guinness in 2002, dispatched with the words that if he returned with an untarnished commitment to continue, then he’d have a future with the whistle.

Managing director of Teneo Ireland and chairman of the Cricket Ireland board, MacNeice is an experienced official and is perfectly placed to offer an overview of the TMO role. “The TMO role has developed over the years and it’s a tricky one because you (must) get the balance right.

“The game needs continuity and so we don’t want too many stoppages, but even then, we also want to get the big decisions right; the biggest thing from TMO perspective is really understanding when to intervene and when not to intervene, what the game requires. It’s a slightly different skill set to the refereeing skill set.”

MacNeice makes the point that many people don’t understand the strict parameters that govern the TMO role so it’s important to be able to disregard the external chatter. He said: “Overall, from a TMO perspective what you want is just to be able to provide the support to the guys in the middle and to know that we’re there to provide that input, when and where the game and the referee needs it, and hopefully get really big calls right.”

A key for a TMO is not to be overly zealous, to get the big-ticket items right while communicating in a timely and concise manner. Injuries provide a TMO with a little more breathing space to scan. He explained: “If there’s an incident where a player is injured, it buys you a little bit more time, you are trying to look in the background and figure out what’s happened.

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“Our delayed screens will be about four or five seconds (behind) and again this is part of the art of TMOing, we talk about going after the clear and obvious not to rummage in and find everything that you can possibly find. If you go looking for everything, you’ll find lots of stuff.

“What we’re looking to do is (find) the obvious stuff that jumps out at you, try and confirm what you have seen and then intervene as required. You usually have five to six seconds to make those judgment calls.

“I’ve always said the harder decisions to make with the (officiating) team are the non decisions, decisions to not intervene in the game because the ones where you have to intervene are obvious.

“It’s the marginal calls where you’ve got to decide, ‘do I need to come in here or not, is it clear and obvious enough for me to get involved in the game?’ They are the trickier decisions to have to make.”

Joy Neville, who won 60 caps for Ireland as a player, has been a pioneer in officiating terms and continues that role later this year by becoming the first woman to officiate at a men’s World Cup as a TMO. She said: “It is a massive honour for me and for my family. It means an awful lot, it is my sixth World Cup as a player and referee in (the) Sevens and XVs (codes).

“I got into the TMO role when I got pregnant and wasn’t able to be on the field, either in the middle or the sideline. This opportunity came my way, and I thought, ‘you know what it’s a great chance to get there as a TMO.”

Can the TMO hear the match commentary? Neville explained: “It depends on the venue and the competition. For instance, in the URC, you have a live screen and a delayed screen. You don’t have the opportunity to look at replays thereafter.

“The EPCR facilities can vary from venue to venue. Again, you have the same system as URC, or you may have an EPS operator with you which is a person who has another screen with four different angles. We can look at other angles while the game’s going ahead or while there’s a stoppage.

“For internationals you have an EPS operator, you have a screen with eight small screens of different angles of whatever you want to look at. You can mark the event so you can go back and have another quick look so that you’re within the window to challenge the referee or have a formal review or not have a formal review.”

The World Cup represents the pinnacle for officials too albeit with an obvious point of difference in that unlike the players who will be looking to stand out, the four agree that they’d like to be inconspicuous while discharging their duties where the games and the players are the focal points, a challenge they’re eager to embrace.