Refereeing controversies are as old as rugby. But whereas the fire once extinguished itself shortly after the match, it now lasts for days, or even longer, and spreads across the entire planet, fueled by arsonist tweets. “The negative point in our sport is social networks”, says the Englishman Karl Dickson in the excellent documentary Whistleblowers, offered free of charge, in English with French subtitles, on RugbyPass TV.
World Rugby offers an insight into the world of the men in black throughout the last World Cup, whether they officiate on the pitch or on video as TMO (Television match official). From pre-competition to post-final, the camera infiltrates the gym or rest rooms, and captures moments of tension and conviviality between colleagues.
The highs and lows of #RWC2023 with Ben O’Keefe
Get a behind-the-scenes look into rugby’s toughest job in #Whistleblowersnow streaming on RugbyPass TV 📺
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) February 2, 2024
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We thus witness the process of designating officials for each stage of the final phases, before Joël Jutge, French head of World Rugby referees, comes to inform the lucky ones and, more complicated, those who failed.
Intrusive cameras, but never immodest
“Letting cameras into our daily lives could be disruptive for our group,” admits Catalan Mathieu Raynal, who directed the England-Fiji quarter-final, to 20 Minutes. But unanimously we also thought that it was important to give the general public access to this part of our sport that they know little about. And then, the people who filmed this documentary were able to fully blend into our group until we sometimes managed to forget their presence. »
Intrusive, but never immodest, the authors of Whistleblowers offer poignant images, as when the Australian Nic Berry exchanges with the widow of his compatriot and mentor Andrew Cole, died in July 2022, who had accompanied the reconversion of the former Racing 92 scrum half to refereeing. Or when the proud Jaco Peyper breaks down after being injured during the quarter between Wales and Argentina, which will remain the last World Cup match for the now retired South African.
Injured, referee Jaco Peyper (seated, center), gives way to Karl Dickson for the rest of the World Cup quarter-final between Wales and Argentina, October 14, 2023 in Marseille. -Chris Fairweather
Beyond the competition to direct the best matches, solidarity between colleagues emerges from the documentary. “We are very close and very bonded between us,” confirms Mathieu Raynal. Our families know each other and we see each other outside of rugby. The group has changed little over the last three World Cups and our collective life has always been placed above particular interests. It is a state of mind that the old ones are guarantors of and that the new ones will have to carry if they wish to make it last. »
“More hostile” than previous World Cups
The union is strengthened by a necessary solidarity against the outside world. Not so much that of the players and coaches – “our relations are rather healthy between all the players in our sport”, judges Raynal – as of the rest of the universe, from the supporters blinded by their chauvinism to the media… “We have been much criticized, the environment was rather hostile so obviously the context was more complicated than in England or Japan [lors des Mondiaux 2015 et 2019] », Estimates the French referee.
Inevitably, images of the France – South Africa quarter-final resurface, with Ben O’Keeffe’s decisions criticized by Antoine Dupont but also, in a much more virulent way, by countless Internet users, mainly French. Back in their locker room at the Stade de France, the New Zealander and his assistants look like groggy boxers. And this is just a taste of what awaits O’Keeffe in the following days, until the loud whistles which welcome him for his return to the Saint-Denis enclosure, at the time of the semi-final between South Africa and England.
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“Social networks are almost a lawless zone where, for the most part, people without skills vent their hatred and frustration by attacking other people, whether on referees, players or others, deplores Mathieu Raynal. Among those who spend their time commenting on and denigrating the work of others, as Georges Frêche would have said, there are 90% idiots and they are so stupid that they all think they are in the 10%. »
Through Whistleblowers, World Rugby wishes to alert the public to the abuses of a sport whose self-proclaimed values increasingly resemble an empty slogan. The International Federation also wants to recall that justice has started to take action against certain perpetrators of cyberharassment.
Mathieu Raynal, here during the Champions Cup match between the English of Exeter and the Irish of Munster on December 17, 2023, will retire at the end of the season. – Simon King / ProSports / Shutterstock / Sipa
“The number of convictions remains symbolic for the moment compared to the number of hateful comments on social networks but it is going in the right direction,” notes the Catalan who, at almost 43 years old, will put away the whistle after the Chile test matches – Scotland and Uruguay – Scotland, July 20 and 27, respectively as field and touchline referee.
In his new life, the forty-year-old will not stray too far from his first loves because, even if “nothing is officially decided”, he should take charge of the management of referees in the French professional sector with his former colleague Romain Poite, as indicated at the end of March by L’Equipe.
“We don’t communicate enough”
“If we continue to look negatively and talk about refereeing only to highlight its errors, then we will vaccinate generations of kids against refereeing,” he warns. It’s a shame because it’s an extraordinary sport, very educational mentally and on a human level. »
“For our part, we must promote it better,” continues Mathieu Raynal. We must be able to be ten times more attractive. We don’t communicate enough, we are absent from social networks. Refereeing is not open enough to spectators to explain to them what we are doing, not transparent enough to be understood by as many people as possible. »
“The press must also be more balanced and not always choose the angle of controversy to deal with subjects on arbitration and finally our public, despite the passion that drives it, must also have a little indulgence towards a man’s error. » To do this, the vision of Whistleblowers is highly recommended.
