"The Worst Refereeing Performance of All Time"

Andy Goode labeled Karl Dickson's performance this week as the worst of all time. While single bad decisions plague even the highest calibre of rugby fixtures, Karl and his team may have taken the biscuit with their 80-minute display.

Karl Dickson, oh, it is you again. The man just can’t keep his name out of rugby headlines. Previously, we had seen Karl produce some dubious red cards in the first issue of ‘Why am I angry?'. Today, he gets a full article to himself.

This past weekend, Karl refereed the Aviva Premiership Semi-Final between Saracens and Northampton. In the first play of the game, Saracens threw up a box kick which Sean Maitland chased. Arriving early, he collided forcefully with George Furbank, the Exeter full-back who was arriving to collect the ball. You can witness the collision here:

“I think Maitland could be in trouble here," Austin Healey says with bated breath. He knows it’s a red, and no one wants a red this early in the game. I didn't think much thought was required on this incident until I realised Karl was not brandishing a card. Karl, mate, what the hell are you thinking?

Let's look at the facts. Firstly, Maitland arrived early. This is slightly more complicated than arriving late but is not a mitigating factor. A player’s job under the high ball is to make sure you arrive at the right time. Mistiming is mistiming. Secondly, Maitland glanced at Furbank as he was coming to collect the ball. Although it can be perceived as intent to harm, I believe a lot is made in general about players taking their eye off the ball. By looking at the opponent you are about to jump against, you can gauge their position and adapt. It’s not always an aggressive act. Finally, where Maitland is found guilty in this incident is the collision itself. Knees up, elbows to the face, he flattened Furbank here. He committed foul play and hit Furbank in the head with high force. It is a “red card less any mitigation” according to the World Rugby framework. In a year where any contact with the head has been brutally penalized, where ‘no intent to harm’ has been irrelevant to the story, this decision, so lightly brushed past in a large game, is scandalous.

Karl then compounded errors by giving a strange penalty against Courtney Lawes, from which Maitland scored his second try. From my humble eye, I can see nothing wrong with Lawes’ entry or position. Furthermore, Saracens' penalty try was scored three phases after Farrell offloaded the ball while sitting in row 3. He was so clearly out of play that the commentary stopped following the game closely, knowing the play would be pulled back. Tactically, Premiership Rugby has decided not to show any clips of these decisions online, hoping they will just be forgotten.

There will be some commentators who will be sympathetic to Karl and his team. It’s an Aviva Premiership semi-final, so the pressure is high. Karl has been under pressure from the media for giving away too many cards, so that would have been playing on his mind. The game is inherently hard to understand, and the laws aren’t always clear-cut. It is easier to criticize the referee than be one.

Only the latter I will concede. In terms of the pressure of the occasion and from the media, just get someone in who can do the job. The decision to put someone in who was under so much scrutiny is foolish. I learned today that a referee cannot take charge of both a semi-final and a final. Surely there is someone among the top three English Premiership referees who is better than Karl, surely.

These decisions cost Northampton the game. Maitland, who should have been taking off his leggings in the changing room, went on to score two tries. Saracens were brilliant, Owen Farrell in particular, so the victory is not wholly undeserved. However, a red card in the first minute of a semi-final is sure to derail a team, even one as talented and robust as Saracens.

What can be done to mitigate such circumstances? A new protocol being trialed in Super Rugby Pacific could help. The ‘Orange Card,’ a yellow card that can be upgraded to a red by the TMO, has been a success thus far in the Pacific and may be fast-tracked to be used at the Rugby World Cup in France. While change is always met with extreme hostility in rugby, this law change takes the pressure away from the referee on the field, while allowing the game to be played more quickly. The referee and the TMO would spend less time discussing a decision. I think it would be a good progression for the sport.

In terms of the worst performance from a referee of all time, there are a few contenders. Allain Rolland’s decision to disallow a Mark Cueto try in the Rugby World Cup Final 2007, Pascal Gauzere’s performance in the Wales vs England 6 Nations match 2021, where he single-handedly lost England the game, and finally, to show I am not wholly obsessed with decisions against England, Roman Poite’s decision to downgrade a penalty to only a scrum in the final minute of The Lions' 3-game series in New Zealand, which cost New Zealand the series. The scale of these events dwarfs the game Karl Dickson refereed at the weekend, but the calamity in refereeing revolves mainly around a single decision. For an all-around poor performance, Karl has really put his hand up.