Blue 26- 8 Yellow

First league game of the season for me saw me travel over to a Nottingham club, to referee their 1st XV in a level 9 - Midlands 4 Game.

I have refereed this club quite a few times in the past, and they are always very welcoming and friendly, and the banter is usually good with them.
The only downside to refereeing here is that I get no seperate changing rooms, I have to get changed in the same dressing room as the home team. This is normally ok before the game, but has shall we say, encouraged discussion after the game on more than one occasion.

The game was played in a really good spirit, both teams looking for fast ball and to spread it wide as often as possible.
I had briefed both teams on what I wanted them to do at the breakdown before the game. Unfortunately the home team clearly thought I was joking, and got 2 Yellow cards for their indiscipline, and not clearing away after making the tackle, killing the ball.
As usual, the forwards were the ones heeding my warnings, and it was the full back and the winger who fell foul of my whistle.

The home team scored 4 good tries, although a couple of them were soft, and missed tackles resulted in an easy run in.

The main incident came 2 minutes from time, when the away team made a substitution, and a replacement prop came on.
A ruck formed, and he was cleaned out of the way perfectly legally by one of the home team, but for some unknown reason he took exception to this, and a little bit of pushing and shoving ensued.
He then threw what can only be described as a massive haymaker, catching the home player on the chin.
I was only 5 yards away, with a clear view.
Loud blast on the whistle, everyone stops and looks at me, apart from the prop, who just hangs his head and starts walking off.
I show a red card for the first time this season, as it was completely unprovoked, and if the punch had landed cleanly (it glanced off the player's shoulder before hitting his chin) it was intended to seriously injure.

There is no room for this in rugby, we are not thugs, we are athletes who play a contact sport, and luckily this is the exception not the rule.

The away team captain came up to me at the end of the game and apologised, and promised that they would immediately ban the player for a week, and deal with it internally, which is always a good sign that the club take this sort of thing seriously, and do not want to get a name for violent play, as some other local clubs are beginning to in some circles (referees talk to each other).

All in all, a good day out.

Tough game next week, a step up in level, and a team with a particularly "vocal" captain who has been on the recieving end of my whistle in the past.
I will report in due course.