Southsider, an unfortunate situation no doubt, but at the end of the day ( and without wishing to seem like an old fuddy duddy !) – perhaps you (or your team’s captain) might / should have considered that the escalation in ill-disciplined play, and the obvious reactions from both teams towards the referee’s decisions, might actually have exacerbated the problem ??
Simple solution ( and yes, with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight it’s really easy to pontificate !) – why didn’t the 2 captains sort it out & agree to reign in the crappy situation by getting their teams to pull their heads in !
As a referee, it gives me the irits when you try & do the right thing by the teams, only to be ignored completely ! (Not always, admittedly, but often enough)
I refereed a match last weekend where the captain was the worst offender, and despite pleading with him to lead by example and pull his head in (and he was a quite reasonable rugby player) – his actions – and more importantly, his reactions, - made things actually worse for his own team ! ( And we aren’t talking U12’s, either)
How many times have we seen “poor” referees actually try & salvage things, by seeking the co-operation of the 2 captains to get their teams to paly rugby instead of worrying about “getting even” – only to see things degenerate further ?
It probably doesn’t help when there are plenty of armchair referees on the sidelines providing their “useful” running commentary either !
Happy to take a hit for the team – as yes, even referees can have a bad day at the office, but I wish the captains & players would help solve some of the problems before they even occur.
As MOTH suggests (quite correctly, IMHO) – without a ref, there ain’t no match !
Perhaps a little more thought, before one squares up, might be warranted ?
A Jaded Hound