Advantage Over podcast for rugby referees

A walk through the law change proposals coming out of World Rugby in recent weeks. What is going on? What will actually change? And when?

Today, I walk through some great tips for all those rugby coaches out there who have to take charge of a match as a referee. Are you a Coach with a Whistle (TM), rather than a rugby referee? Maybe you're a reluctant ref - a volunteer being thrust forward because you had too much to say during a match? Maybe you just didn't avoid eye contact quickly enough when your parents group we

Today, we're joined by Graeme Bloom - a unique person in the rugby refereeing community. Graeme's a keen supporter of match officials and, despite an MND diagnosis in 2019, he remains committed to staying involved in refereeing our great game. During the conversation we hear about his story and his ambitions to be a referee. We hear a little about his experiences in match officiati

Hi, Keith Lewis from RugbyReferee.net here with a general update on refereeing news! Plenty to chat about from the referees and refereeing world at the moment! In this episode, I walk through: 1) New formal Law clarification - grounding on a thing in in-goal 2) Law issues Loose ball brought to ground is classed as "held/holding"2012 Clarification "The player is considered to be car

Today, I'm joined by New Zealand Rugby's Mike Hester to chat about their law variations for the 2023 rugby season. They include a lower tackle height, a restriction on scrum halves and for the pack as a whole. All three are important for all referees and match officials across Aotearoa.Mike is NZR's Game Participation Manager, and he tells me about:His background as an elite refere

It's a Happy New Year to you all! Today, Keith Lewis, founder of RugbyReferee.net and host of the Advantage Over podcast talks through a new World Rugby 2023 Law Application Guideline for 2023. While much of it is targetted at the elite end of the game, the principles within it covers all of rugby no matter what level we're refereeing! So we need to be aware of the drive by World R

Today, it's a solo episode with Keith talking through all the new law changes and amends that have now come into play from 1 July 2022. In summary, Keith talks aboutAll the Global Law Trials from last season which move into full lawTwo new GLTs – scrum brake foot, and restrictions on medics/water carriersSome minor wording where there have had to be a formal clarifications i

Today, we're joined by Tim Wyatt, a Sport and Exercise Psychologist (in training) to chat about... well.. sport and psychology! Especially for us as rugby referees.We chatted about identifying your own values for refereeing, and then how we prep for a game, cope during the game, and finally the importance of reflection. The article to go with this can be found at: https://rugb

Today, it's a solo episode looking at the one of the less pleasant sides of our game - the general increase in angst and poor behaviour on and around the rugby field. We have a look into how to manage and deal with these types of situations, whether it's players baiting each other, angsty touch judges, coaches, replacements and spectators. There's some helpful lines and approaches

I'm joined by Andrew Macpherson, now the High Performance Match Official Manager from Scottish Rugby to talk about their new three year Refereeing and Match Official Development StrategyWe chat about:Why there's been a 17 year gap between Scottish international refereesThe new Match Official Strategy and how it'll help reduce the 17 year gap before the next oneHow to attract refere