THE TELEGRAPH REPORTS
By Alasdair Reid
Last Updated: 11:33pm GMT 26/11/2007

A number of Scotland's top clubs have reacted with a mixture of bemusement, anger and defiance after comments made by their coaches about match referees brought threats of disciplinary action from their governing body, the Scottish Rugby Union.

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SRU discipline manager Iain Goodall, himself a former senior referee, wrote to four Premier 1 clubs after quotes appeared in national newspapers following a recent round of league games.

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The clubs and coaches involved were Edinburgh Accies (Ian Barnes), Hawick (Jim Hay), Ayr (Craig Redpath) and Glasgow Hawks (David Wilson). In each letter, Goodall stated that he was considering a charge of Misconduct against the coach concerned. However, he also appeared to offer the clubs the opportunity to head off proceedings by taking action of their own.

He wrote: "I would ask that the club carry out an investigation and advise me as soon as possible what actions have been taken by the club and [the coach] to resolve this.'

Sections 5 of the IRB's code of conduct regulation states that persons 'shall not publish or cause to be published criticism of the manner in which a referee or touch judge handled a Match'. However, that apparently draconian clause has traditionally been interpreted leniently.

Hawick president Terence Froud admitted that he has told Hay to pick his words more carefully in the future. However, Froud's authority on the matter may have been weakened last weekend when, in an article in Hawick's match programme, he described the SRU discipline panel as 'faceless people in positions of power flexing their muscles'. Ayr president Billy McHarg seemed equally disinclined to take Goodall's threat seriously. "They seem to have very little to do if it has reached the stage where they are cutting out newspaper articles and sending them to clubs," he said. "We're more than happy that Craig's comments were accurate."

Glasgow Hawks official Kenny Hamilton suggested that referees should learn to toughen up a little. He said: "Coaches and players expect to be criticised if they have a bad match, so I think we need to be careful about certain individuals being a bit over-sensitive."

Coaches' comments about referees have only occasionally provoked action from the governing body. The most famous example concerned former Scotland captain David Sole, who described one official's performance as "tantamount to cheating."

Sole was invited to explain himself at a hearing, but declined on the basis that he would be babysitting that evening. He was banned for six months.

This article was posted on 27-Nov-2007, 08:27 by Hugh Barrow.