Link's scoop: refs just won't listen

Former Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie has revealed a trade secret. Pre-game meetings between a coach and the match referee are a time-waster.

While the debate over the Super 14 refereeing merit system continues, McKenzie made public what international coaches have thought for years: referees are not swayed by whatever a coach says at the meetings, and whistleblowers will continue to do whatever they want to do.

And they are not swayed by a coach conducting a media campaign outlining how they should police some opposition indiscretions.

"I worked out after a couple of years that those meetings were a waste of time," McKenzie said on the ruggamatrix.com podcast.

"In the last year [with the Waratahs], I took a different tack because being nice to the referee wasn't doing me any good. If they thought you were friendly then it didn't matter so much if they gave you a hard time on the field because you wouldn't bear a grudge.

"So in those last 12 months I was a bit more frosty, spent a lot less time chasing them, and had a lot less cups of coffee. It didn't make any difference, so I saved myself a bit of time on a Friday afternoon."

On the same podcast, Australia's leading referee, Stu Dickinson, said only a naive or new referee would be swayed by a coach.

"They'll [the coaches] come with an agenda but you've got to try to put it aside and not worry about it," Dickinson said. "You try not to get the wool pulled over your eyes c and then have a cup of tea."

Dickinson also defended the merit system, even though he was criticised widely for a perceived lack of neutrality in the Waratahs-Hurricanes match last weekend. It continued yesterday with former All Blacks winger Stu Wilson saying in his SkyTV website column it was a "shame" that Dickinson didn't see the "blatant knock-on" before Waratahs winger Lachie Turner scored.

"When you make a mistake, that's life," Dickinson said. "It happens, and you make a mistake whether it's a Sydney bloke refereeing the Waratahs, or an Australian bloke refereeing a New Zealand or South African team."

EARLY SEASON CHESTNUT

The old chestnut that South Africa wanted to depart the Super 14 got another run in the press this week - about the 20th time in the past decade - and the denials were, as usual, quick off the mark.

The prime reason Australia and New Zealand want to keep South Africa involved is due to the lucrative broadcasting money the Republic brings to the Sanzar deal.

However, privately, some Australian and New Zealand officials wouldn't be too irked if South Africa went north, as apart from revitalising the Super 14 it would give them the chance to push into Asia.

One Australian rugby hack wouldn't be too bothered, either, particularly after being so jittery about leaving his South African hotel room last year. "Unfounded speculation?" Hardly.

FRANS A PAST MASTER

It's only round one but some Super 14 coaches are babbling already.

This is what Bulls coach Frans Ludeke came up with this week: "We can only live for today and dream about the future, so that is the only thing that counts. What's in the past is in the past."

No, we're not exactly certain what Frans was on about either.

However, Waratahs manager Chris Webb was the hero of all the NSW players last Sunday when he organised a hamburger feast at a Wellington steakhouse. But unbeknown to the players, he had first attempted to order 30 steaks, only to be told that the steakhouse had run out of steaks.

- © Fairfax NZ News