Why is it that in rugby league, unlike many other sports, international referees can be and often are selected from one of the competing countries?
ENGLISH referees appointed for a game involving a French team against an English team!
This sentence would make many of my compatriots feel very uncomfortable, to say the least.
Nothing to do with an alleged Anglophobia.
It has to do with the French sporting culture itself; referees have to be neutral. This neutrality requires that when two teams of different nationalities play against each other, the referee has to be of another nationality, to avoid any conflict of interest and to ensure that the referees are not partial.
In the main sports followed by the French public, spectators expect that rule (often written in sport regulations) to be respected. It’s also a powerful marker of international credibility.
So, when they discover by chance, or thanks to a friend, an international rugby league game refereed by a ‘local’, they often feel that they are not in France anymore, to fudge a line from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
When it’s for a Super League or a Betfred Championship match, it’s quite easy to explain to my compatriots that actually, French teams are outposts to the British competitions. So, broadly, games are refereed by ‘locals’, and this is much less shocking. Catalans Dragons fans got used to that; and if they’ve learned to fear the appointment of some rugby league referees rather than some others, this is just because, season after season, they got to learn the personality of each referee of the Super League. Nationality has nothing to do with it.
When it’s for an international game involving nations, this is much more complicated to explain. There may be a feeling that rugby league is a poor relation in international sport. And then comes the next frequent question; are there any French referees in international rugby league?
Of course, the lack of recognition of our sport doesn’t help; French people have just started to know the names of some football referees or union ones in some circumstances. In the recent past, having a French referee appointed at an international competition Grand Final was even some kind of consolation when the national team failed.
Regarding rugby league, older generations will remember of course Julien Rascagnères (1945-2022), an incredible man who refereed Australia no less than ten times and got attention when he ‘mediated’ with Greg Dowling and Kevin Tamati at Lang Park in 1985.
But what about today?
There are still French international referees. At home, their job is far from being easy (see my 2021 article www.totalrl.com/french-referee-sounds-alarm-over-lack-of-respect-for-match-officials).
To find out more I spoke to Stéphane Vincent, the man responsible for the appointment of French referees. The now 40-year-old Super League touch judge, has nineteen seasons of domestic officiating behind him.
I asked him what motivates him to do the most difficult job in French rugby league; being a referee.
“We’re all amateur referees. We love our sport and we love to keep it alive. Like all the players and the coaches. Without players, there would be no games. But without referees, they would be no matches either.”
I asked him also a benevolent but a tough question: does he have role models? Actually, he has many and from various nationalities, which is also very typical of the younger generation of French Treizistes coming through, who are not afraid of looking for inspiration or examples abroad.
“I was very motivated to work with Australian referees such as Gerard Sutton, Ben Cummings or Grant Atkins. Officiating along with some British referees like Chris Kendall, Liam and Aaron Moore was also a very good experience. But when I started my refereeing career, my role model was a Frenchman; Thierry Alibert.”
Alibert was the first Frenchman to officiate in Super League and was appointed as a referee in three World Cups.
But I also wanted to know where French referees stand when it comes to international rugby league now.
“Since February 2024, French referees were appointed nine times for international test matches. At the end of October this year, 95 percent of the referees officiating at the European Cup will be French,” Vincent explained.
“Talking about the major club competitions (Super League and the Championship), one French touch judge and a substitute are assigned to each game played by the Catalans Dragons, two French touch judges and a substitute for each game played by Toulouse Olympique.
“The committee I’m in charge of has been working for a few years with the RFL as partners. “Its goal is to encourage young French players with getting the highest level of performance in the French domestic championship firstly, and to officiate in the Championship and the Super League, afterwards. A good example of that career path is Geoffrey Poumès who was appointed as referee in the Betfred championship twice this season.”
I was also curious to know his position on international rugby league referees often sharing the nationality of one the two teams playing on the field.
His answer is very interesting and in complete contradiction with the French culture I described earlier.
“Appointments have to do with the abilities overall; performance and not the nationality. Of course, if two referees are of equal value, neutrality may be sought through a third nationality. But I do think that referees are impartial. And to be honest, if an English referee officiated at an England-Australia game or an Australian referee officiated at a World Cup Final, this wouldn’t be a problem for me as long as the best referee was appointed.”
International refereeing being the subject, I wanted to know if, given his experience, he has noticed any difference in officiating at games played by Australians, British or French players.
“There’s no difference. Even if I must say that the Australian game, more geared towards engagement and speed make the Australians and sometimes the Brits (who tend to follow that path) easier to referee than the French players.”
So, Treizistes can be relieved. As it has been the rule since the creation of rugby league, nationality may matter sometimes, but it is not the decisive criterion to appreciate the rugby league stakeholder’s professionalism.
Nevertheless, dear Anglophone readers, please picture this hypothetical scene.
We’re in 2026, Australia are playing England at the World Cup Final. A tense and a narrow game is expected especially after a noxious press campaign in both hemispheres. Each camp trying to draw all available means to discredit the other one. This is pure theory I know!
In that case, wouldn’t you appreciate to see the game of your year being refereed by someone who is less likely to receive some pressure at home
You have two years to think about that!
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 502 (November 2024)
Click here to subscribe to the print edition of Rugby League World
