Rugby union match officials are responsible for enforcing the laws of rugby union during a match. "Every match is under the control of match officials who consist of the referee and two touch judges or assistant referees." Further officials can be authorised depending on the level and form of the game.
History
When the game of rugby union was developed at Rugby school, there were no official rugby referees. It was not until many years later when the game began to spread internationally that an official was included.
Before the creation of rugby referees, the captains from both teams would set the rules down before the game began. The two captains would arbitrate the game together as it went on. This is where the ‘advantage’ law comes from in rugby union. This was because a team’s captain was not likely to complain or stop play if his side benefited from the other team’s infringement.
In 1892, the International Rugby Board was created as a result of a disputed try that the captains could not agree on whether it had been scored. The rugby laws were changed to require one referee and two touch judges at each game to make the arbitration easier and more consistent.
Since then the match official’s job has remained constant. The main change has been in the uniform and since 2000 the use of communication equipment and the television match official has greatly increased.
Equipment
Compulsory equipment
Rugby union match officials must use the following equipment: Coin The referee organises a coin toss with the team captains to decide who kicks off and what end each team takes initially. Whistle Referees must carry a whistle to indicate certain occurrences in the game. Red card A red card is used to signal that a player is being sent from the field, or "sent off", for the rest of a match. The referee signals this by holding it aloft in the direction of the player. In International matches, a red card must be used to send a player off unlike rugby league where a player can simply be pointed to the touchline by the referee. (Red cards are not required at lower level matches but most referees carry them.) Yellow card A yellow card is used to signal that a player is being temporarily suspended from the game. The player is sent to the "sin bin" for 10 minutes, after which time they are allowed to return to carry on playing. Similarly to the red card, in International matches a yellow card must be used to temporarily suspend a player unlike Rugby league where the referee, while facing the player being disciplined, will hold out both hands with fingers and thumbs spread to represent 10 minutes. Flag The touch judges or assistant referees must each carry a flag, which is used to signal certain things to the referee, players and spectators. The things that a touch judge can indicate with the flag are slightly different from that of an assistant referee. A touch judge must indicate a successful kick at goal (unlike rugby league the flag is simply kept down for an unsuccessful kick), when the ball or player holding the ball has gone out of bounds and which team is to throw in. They must also leave the flag up if the wrong team has thrown the ball in, the wrong ball is used at a quick throw, the ball has been touched by any other person than the player throwing the ball at a quick throw and if the foot or part of the foot of the player throwing in is in the field of play. Watch The referee is required to have a watch or timekeeping device as the referee is solely responsible for keeping the time. In some situations such as professional games time keepers may be appointed and signal the ends of halves but referees are still required to keep the time themselves. Score card Referees are required to carry a scorecard as they are solely responsible for keeping the score. Once again this job is often given to others but the referee is responsible for the score and must keep it in case there is a complaint about the correctness of the score.