OldSchool wrote: It Gets better :sick:
Newport Gwent Dragons v Connacht Rugby
At Rodney Parade, 7.15pm.
<strong>Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (FIR, 1st competition game)</strong>
Assistant Referees: James Jones, David Jones (bothWRU)
Citing Commissioner : Richard Gwynn

is this a joke? Both Welsh assistants as well... theres home advantage for ya

It Gets better :sick:
Newport Gwent Dragons v Connacht Rugby
At Rodney Parade, 7.15pm.
Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (FIR, 1st competition game)
Assistant Referees: James Jones, David Jones (bothWRU)
Citing Commissioner : Richard Gwynn

Quick run down this season:

Games with refs with 10 games or less experience

Aironi 10
Dragons 10
Connacht 9
Treviso 9
Ospreys 8
Scarlets 8
Blues 6
Edinburgh 6
Ulster 6
Glasgow 5
Leinster 5
Munster 4

Games with refs with 20 games or more experience

Leinster 9
Ulster 9
Munster 8
Edinburgh 8
Glasgow 8
Ospreys 8
Blues 7
Scarlets 7
Aironi 5
Dragons 4
Connacht 4
Treviso 3


It's quite clear the 'poor relation' teams are not only mistreated in terms of their own unions, but the league itself does nothing to provide a level playing field.

Our current average of 15 games experience is a full 10 games below the league average.

rossie wrote: isnt neil paterson originally from ulster?

He is, but he's an SRU afilliated ref. JP Doyle is Irish too (from Dublin) but is an RFU ref so could referee Irish teams also....

We need JOC fit and on the pitch. All his guile and ever-so-slightly not really listening to the ref attitude would do wonders.

That's really going beyond taking the p1ss. Anyone want to start a sweep on how long before our first yellow card?

isnt neil paterson originally from ulster?

Oh would you Adam and Eve it. We have another ref making his Pro12 debut this weekend. Hello bottom rung on the ladder, how we've missed you.

Although I suppose when you have Paterson in the 'experienced' group you could almost call it a small mercy. Meanwhile the Munster v Leinster derby will of course have Nigel Owens. Have to make the league look good on't telly, now don't we?

Ulster done fare any better. They get an experienced ref, but it's Paterson!

Everyone gets an increase this weekend, except us and our opponents, of course.


Dragons v Connacht: Referee: Giuseppe Vivarini (FIR, 1st competition game)
Ospreys v Treviso: Referee: Alain Rolland (IRFU, 49th competition game)
Munster v Leinster: Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU 83rd competition game)
Edinburgh v Scarlets: Referee : Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU, 37th competition game)
Glasgow v Blues: Referee: George Clancy (IRFU, 45th competition game)
Ulster v Aironi: Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU, 39th competition game)

Week 19

	Team	Average ref experience (in games)	Experience change this week	Position change this week
1.	Munster	31	+3	-
2.	Scarlets	28	-	-
	Blues	28	+1	+1
	Ospreys	28	+1	+2
	Leinster	28	+3	+4
6.	Ulster	27	+1	-1
7.	Edinburgh	25	+1	-
8.	Glasgow	24	+1	-
9.	Treviso	18	+2	+1
10.	Dragons	17	-1	-1
11.	Aironi	16	+1	+1
12.	Connacht	15	-1	-1

isnt he the guy who reffed the Gloucester home game?

For rescheduled games I only count the ref who would have reffed the original game, to reflect the organisers original intent.

The ref this week is Patterson, not McPherson, thankfully.

ummm, since your second last post is 3weeks ago did you cover aironi vs munster and dragons vs blues???

hope its not the ginger prick we have if you said the ref was scottish

Has off to you ummm, this is a great thread.

I would never have known the discrencys in ref experience towards different teams only for this.
I wonder if the AP and Top14 mirror this trend?

Anyway who is the ref for this Fixture?

Table should be settling down at this point, but Nigel Owens is playing havoc with my stats. The guy does a huge amount of Pro12 games, which messes up the averages.

But with an iRB elite level ref it's a wonder why the IRFU don't do the same. For one Owens there are two Rolland and Clancy's. There's a provincial derby this weekend, and we get a Scottish ref!



Week 18

	Team	Average ref experience (in games)	Experience change this week	Position change this week
1.	Munster	28	-	-
2.	Scarlets	28	+4	+5
3.	Blues	27	+3	+3
4.	Ospreys	27	+1	-1
5.	Ulster	26	-1	-3
6.	Leinster	25	-	-1
7.	Edinburgh	24	-1	-3
8.	Glasgow	23	+1	-
9.	Dragons	18	-	-
10.	Treviso	16	-	-
11.	Connacht	16	+1	-
12.	Aironi	15	+1	-

RonanL wrote: Surely they can manage the refereeing so that all teams come out at the end of the season with a similar average.

Of course they can. It's not by chance that the table looks as it does now, Munster at the top Connacht, Dragons and the two Italian clubs at the bottom, and it is something the branch should bring up. There's not much of a difference from 1-8, but there is a decided drop off for 9-12.

ummmm I think these stats are really powerful - on a given day, a bad refs decisions will normally affect both teams fairly evenly, but over the course of the season, having inexperienced refs consistantly is bound to be a significant disadvantage - it's particularly harsh when you consider the teams with the smallest budgets (such as ourselves) are the ones who are drawing the shorts straws. I really think this is something that needs to be highlighted to the organisers of the league. Surely they can manage the refereeing so that all teams come out at the end of the season with a similar average.

Week 17 and Irish teams are on the move. Not us, obviously, but Ulster and Leinster both move up a bit. An Italian ref for us. Oh.

As always the presence of Nigel Owens plays havoc with the charts. Way more experience than any other ref and his reffing of our HEC match against Quins was his first ever trip to the Sportsground. Would be nice to see him chez nous more often.

Here's hoping both Munster and Ulster can keep Dragons and Edinburgh at bay.

Scarlets v Connacht: Marius Mitrea (FIR, 6th competition game)
Aironi v Leinster: Andrew Macpherson (SRU, 41st competition game)
Ospreys v Glasgow: Neil Paterson (SRU, 37th competition game)
Ulster v Edinburgh: Nigel Owens (WRU, 81st competition game)
Treviso v Blues: David Wilkinson (IRFU, 13th competition game)
Dragons v Munster: Carlo Damasco (FIR, 18th competition game)

	Team	Average ref experience (in games)	Experience change this week	Position change this week
1.	Munster	28	-1	-
2.	Ulster	27	+3	+3
3.	Ospreys	26	+1	-
4.	Edinburgh	25	+4	+4
5.	Leinster	25	+1	+1
6.	Blues	24	-1	-2
7.	Scarlets	24	-2	-5
8.	Glasgow	23	+1	-1
9.	Dragons	18	-	-
10.	Treviso	16	-	-
11.	Connacht	15	-	-
12.	Aironi	14	+2	-