Bryce Lawrence - JO'N forced my retirement

[MajorlyRagerly]

Poor Bryce, don't let the door hit you on the arse on the way out. At least one of the up and coming refs is more than a capable replacement, as Glen Jackson has been very impressive with what I've seen of him. I suppose that being a Super Rugby player has provided Jackson with a great insight in managing play.

Did you not see Jackson shit the bed in the Sharks vs Canes game? I am biased towards Glen as he's a family friend, but I think he needs a fair bit more game time yet - I think he has an England game at the end of this year which I think is WAY too soon.

Bryce Lawrence is the opposite of a family friend, however I still think anybody that got to ref the games he did & dedicated as much time as he did to the game of rugby is worthy of a full credit. Lets be honest, he wasnt much chop of a ref in his later years, but he was still getting selected. In hindsight, he perhaps should have turned down the QF, stating the reasons he says above.

 

[Baldric]

At the last RWC I thought that they invited the wrong Lawrence by mistake. He should never have been there. I think he was always punching above his weight as a ref.

 

[MajorlyRagerly]

At the last RWC I thought that they invited the wrong Lawrence by mistake. He should never have been there. I think he was always punching above his weight as a ref.

He used to at lease be consistent. But yes, Mark Lawrence always was and still is better.

Always wonder myself if there wasn't more to that decision as it was baffling, to put it politely.

 

[gel]

I am glad he is hanging up the boots - he was extremely poor as a referee.

His quotes in the article read a little bit like that Goodall (sp?) umpire that got whacked by Croft - both similar individuals that were in positions well above their abilities.

 

[rugbyskier]

Did you not see Jackson shit the bed in the Sharks vs Canes game? I am biased towards Glen as he's a family friend, but I think he needs a fair bit more game time yet - I think he has an England game at the end of this year which I think is WAY too soon.

No I missed that game. The games I've seen him ref I was impressed with how he went, given his inexperience. That said he probably does need a bit of time before reffing big matches but I think the potential is there and I'm sure that the he will have learned a lot from the shocker.

 

[Blue]

FFS close the door there's a draft.

 

[qwerty51]

Did you not see Jackson shit the bed in the Sharks vs Canes game? I am biased towards Glen as he's a family friend, but I think he needs a fair bit more game time yet - I think he has an England game at the end of this year which I think is WAY too soon.

Absolutely awful in that game, called a penalty every ruck for leaving the feet. Killed the Sharks out of the game.

 

[boyo]

At the last RWC I thought that they invited the wrong Lawrence by mistake.

Yes, I think that Mark is a much better referee than Bryce.

 

[ACT Crusader]

South Africa already had several refs so Mark didn't get the nod. I think he (Mark) is a very good communicator on the field and fairly accurate.

I didn't mind Bryce, in fact don't have too many issues with any of the refs. Criticising their calls is one thing but I don't get the constant ref bashing and some of the name calling is just offensive.

 

[Torn Hammy]

What chance does a ref have these days when the most respected player in the game has the nickname " McCheat'.

Professional rugby has resulted in some very cynical flaunting of the rules that a single ref has to deal with in real time by himself.

In pressure games like the RWC I would hate to be the ref who is deciding which of the six or so indiscretions to penalise at every breakdown.

Bryce's greatest problem was that he couldn't mask the utter confusion that all top tier refs must no doubt experience.

 

[Dan54]

Actually Torn, I think you summed it up, the most respected player in the game is called McCheat, by people who watch tv, and go on rugby forums claiming to know the laws more than the refs. I have no strong opinion on Bryce Lawrence as a ref, or any others for that matter, but as I stated on another post all these 'experts' replay videos of parts of games that suits them, to prove how bad a ref is. I not just talking about Lawrence, I talking about them all Dickenson for some reason enraged a lot of kiwi fans, couple of my Aussie mates claim that Kaplan dislike Aussie teams so is always hard on them. I just wonder what happened to the ref is in charge, and you accept his decisions. I just think there are a lot of very bad sports out there, and don't accept their team can lose except that ref beats them, or even if they accept the other team was better, they can say but ref helped them.

 

[Gagger]

So Dan, we should wait until some guy tells a journalist that he stuffed up royally before we comment on it? Anything else is being "a very bad sport"?

How's the weather up their on your horse?

 

[RoffsChoice]

I always called them the Greater and Lesser Lawrence. What do I call Mark now?

 

[Dan54]

So Dan, we should wait until some guy tells a journalist that he stuffed up royally before we comment on it? Anything else is being "a very bad sport"?

How's the weather up their on your horse?

Fair enough Gagger, if that how you think the way to go is, I not one to tell you to be different, don't know why you think I on high horse because I think that the continual complaints about refs,or their decisions is not my idea of being a rugby fan. I coached rugby for years from kids to seniors, and always insisted players play to refs rules, so perhaps I got to keep trying to live to those ideals. Perhaps bad sports was to strong, but not sure what other words cover how I feel about continual complaints about refs. Mate I hear it down at club rugby every weekend, supporters from both sides insisting refs are no good and are against their team ( tell you what some of my mates are rippers at it).

 

[Dan54]

I would add,I have seen very few games where a ref makes more mistakes than the players.

 

[Scarfman]

 

[Gagger]

Dan54 - I do agree with you that people take it too far with refs - if you want the ultimate example, read the comments on the article I linked to above. For this reason I haven't posted something about it on the front page, I'm not keen on just opening a can of spite.

I do however think that like anyone else in the game - coaches, players, administrators, internet warriors - and refs are fair game for criticism or praise, or just general discussion. The line that anything other than praise is whinging or being a bad sport gives me the A1 shits!

 

[Inside Shoulder]

You are ahead on points at the moment

 

[jimmydubs]

Remember being outraged at that, too outrage to watch the clock. Now I watch the clock and it is 2 seconds from the tackle to the whistle being blown. You hate to say it but seemed premeditated.

I thought Vinny Munro was a lot better as an NZ ref option for the RWC. Although I vaguely remember a stinker of call maybe when he was TMO? On the whole though I think he's pretty decent, yet he seems to have gone backwards in the 'ref rankings'

 

[Lindommer]

.....Vinny Munro was a lot better as an NZ ref option (than Bryce Lawrence) for the RWC.....

Among all the wailing and rabbitting on about Bryce's retirement it'd be timely to note Munro's departure as well. I've enjoyed Vinny's contribution to the game, any match I watched when he officiated was well reffed by a bloke who made damned sure the spectators wouldn't remember him. What's the opposite of prima donna? That's Vinny.