The former international was the first Irishman to referee a Lions game for over a hundred years, but he had the credentials, writes Gavin Cummiskey

RUGBY HAS gotten a little complex on us. Usually, and especially in the immediate aftermath of a calamitous war, most people with a vested interest simply blame the referee for all that ails the game.

“The result is down to how the teams play,” argued Alain Rolland, Ireland’s premier international referee. “It’s nothing to do with the officials in the middle. I think it is important to realise that.”

The Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) rolled out this past season left even lifelong spectators scratching their heads, with Rolland noting four separate rulebooks in place at one time.

“With the greatest respect our game wasn’t broken when they started tinkering with it,” said the 42-year-old who won three caps for Ireland at scrumhalf between 1990 and 1995. “There is big pressure coming in from one part of the world that are under pressure for the game itself. I think they feel making a change will fix the problems, which it won’t. There was nothing really wrong with the game.

“There is a lot more kicking but that is because of the no passing back (rule) into the 22 rule, where you can’t kick out on the full.”

Before the Lions series started the IRB reverted to the old lineout laws and revived the maul, which the Springboks happily utilised to devastating effect in the first Test.

No referee can avoid annoying somebody at some juncture but Rolland is considered one of the best around as proved from his appointment for the 2007 World Cup final. It helps that he played scrumhalf to a high level and, while strict, he appears to allow common sense dictate his on-field actions.

The IRB certainly agree as they keep him on the elite list for this month’s Tri Nations. Eight seasons as a top-level whistler ensures he is used to the mind games that many coaches – Warren Gatland and his fellow Kiwis being prime examples – employ to influence referees, particularly in Test weeks.

“You are going to find it is part and parcel of the game now that they want to leak certain things to papers or the media to try and influence whoever is going to be refereeing that particular weekend.

“You will see it in the lead-up to any big game. All of a sudden something will crop up in regards to scrums or ‘they do this illegally’ or ‘the ref needs to be conscious of this’.

The Lions was no different from Six Nations or Heineken Cup – especially back-to-back games.

“Coaches will come up to me and say ‘I presume you saw last week’s game’ and nine times out of 10 I will say ‘no’. What happened last week has nothing to do with what’s going to happen today. It’s really important that people realise that.

“I never look back because every game is different. Professional refs just ref whatever unfolds in front of them on the given day.”

Referees always get sledged from some angle so it is only fair to seek their opinion on occasion.

“Our job is difficult anyway. It is complicated but in some ways it is reasonably straight forward. What have the ELVs done? I don’t think they made it any more difficult.

“Collapsing of the maul is no longer allowed and I think that is a good decision, I really do. It’s a big part of the game. For teams that weren’t as big, it was an advantage to them because they could pull it down straight away but now you have to tactically defend it.

“What it does is it sucks in players and should give more room in the field for backs playing against backs rather than backs playing against everybody.

“The lineout, what they have done is put it back to the way it was which I think is a good thing as well. It means there is more variation to where it is thrown as opposed to always throwing it to the tail to try and suck in players.”

Life as a top referee becomes a balancing act, especially if you are also a mortgage broker and father of four.

“I can kind of balance the rugby and the work as I have a laptop with me at all times. It helps me pass the time as well. The difficulty is the weekends away and the kids wondering when you are coming home. You are in an airport nearly every weekend. Yeah, it’s busy.”

In fact, his season never slows. Rolland became the first Irishman since John T McGee in 1896 to referee a Lions game, the Emerging Springboks draw, after being a touch-judge in the Coastal XV fixture.

He returns to South Africa at the end of this month for the All Blacks’ arrival on the high veldt. He is home for four days in the office before running the line in Durban a week later and then down to Cape Town for the Australia match.

The resident Leinster scrumhalf at the end of the amateur era, professionalism came a little late for Rolland the player. So, does this pursuit of excellence with a whistle provide enough compensation?

“It is different because you are not in the changing-room with 30 other people. Although, the way the game has gone you could have 10 people in our changing-room at any one time. But generally, you are responsible for the way a game is officiated.

“Your touch-judges help but the buck stops with the guy in the middle.

“Having played the game at the highest level you will never substitute that but this is coming very close.

“When I go to Bloemfontein, after the anthems, I am five feet away from the haka before kick-off. You can’t buy that. You just can’t. It’s a great way to stay involved in the game.”