A few years ago the Irish Times (Gerry Thornley I think) did up the penalty stats for Connacht league games and founds that in interprovincial games the penalty count went against us by a factor of 2:1, while against the other teams the penalty split was 1:1.

So while there's little doubt that the Irish refs were shafting us, I certainly see less of that in the last few years (apparently on the back on Thornley's article we suggested foreign refs for interpros - cue sudden outbreak of fair play amongst the Irish refs).

We all recall Fitzgibbon having an absolute mare reffing us in the RDS a few years ago; I'd say the Leinster fans remember us hammering them in the Sportsground not long after (the night of Swifty's best-try-ever-anywhere) as the night Fitz gave Connacht everything.

As for the weekend's game, I thought the official was a little flaky but didn't favour either team. Watching it back on the box bore this out.

I read somewhere in tests fans see on average three times the number of referee mistakes (real or imagined) when they go against them than when they're in their favour.

GTTC wrote: The way to look at it is this: We are generally the underdog in games. It is human nature therefor that any 50:50 decisions will generally go to the stronger team. However, more victories and an increase in results helps to turn this around.

I think you are merely propagating the victim mentality here. There isn't a shred of evidence that Connacht have suffered at the hands of match officials over the course of a season. This is an almost universal belief among supporters of any club that isn't winning as much as they'd like, across any team sport.

The reason supporters of teams that are winning don't feel hard done by, is not because they got the more favourable decisions, but because when you win, you pay no heed to the match officials or decisions. Look at Man Utd having a goal (incorrectly) disallowed in the derby last weekend. Not a whisper about it all week, because they won. If it had ended 2-2 or worse, United fans and management would be shouting about it. Same decision, two different reactions, all depending on the end result.

EXILE i usually like your comments but this one is silly. you want clan members to baby sit a few supporters that boo the ref the odd time. if it was abuse, id slightly understand but it not like there firing bottles or coins at him.

Just trying to come up with solutions swift4prez. I'm not saying we babysit them its just a way of stopping people getting closer to a ref and making it that bit more personal about what they did to his mom last night.

Certainly writing about it in the local papers would be a bad move imo. Connacht needs all the positive press it can get and the last thing that we need to counter the great result and general great atmosphere from last Friday is an article that may put people off. Whatever issues arise (and relatively speaking they are minor)(at the moment) can and should be dealt with in a much more low key manner to start with.

Agreed. We need to harness all the good will and publicity we can and keep getting new people through the gates. We can go down that route if/when we need to.

I think something really must be done in regards the booing of the officials coming off the pitch. I feel embarrassed when i hear it.

If a player can applaud his opponent who has been beating the s%%t out of him off the pitch. You should be able to forgive a guy for missing a few decisions.

The way to look at it is this: We are generally the underdog in games. It is human nature therefor that any 50:50 decisions will generally go to the stronger team. However, more victories and an increase in results helps to turn this around.

pinky wrote: I would be against any kind of announcements, diktats, or other nanny state type solutions.

+1

Borders no.2 wrote: I think a lot of it was spur of the moment, it was an incredible atmosphere at times in the 2nd half and in such a big game people tend to get carried away with some decisions or non-action from the touch-judges.

I definitely have no bother with the spur of the moment stuff. I do plenty of that. In that case you're booing the decision more than the ref, but at the end, when you've had a minute to calm down, it's just daft.

Borders no.2 wrote: Its something that needs to be watched to make sure it doesn't spread but the best course of action imo is to get behind the lads going off at half time and full time.

+1. Few of us tried to drown it out with some singing, but alas we were already hoarse. I would be against any kind of announcements, diktats, or other nanny state type solutions.

Can we get back on topic or start a new thread for the ref stuff please.

As far as some of the comments go booing the ref, a lot of the views are far too pc in my opinion

connachtexile wrote: From a practical stand point couldn't we get/ask a few of the Connacht Clan lads to stand round the entrance where the ref comes in and out? I'm not talking stewards wise just watch the game from there. It might stop the boo boys from targeting the ref if they have to push through other people to get to him? Don't know how practical it is just a suggestion in doing something useful.

I think if the Connacht Branch wrote something in the next match day programme condemning it or asked one of the local papers to write a story about Gobsh*tes booing the ref at halftime it might shut a few of them up.

EXILE i usually like your comments but this one is silly. you want clan members to baby sit a few supporters that boo the ref the odd time. if it was abuse, id slightly understand but it not like there firing bottles or coins at him.
i watched the leinster match this weekend, the crowd was going mental with the ref. when the game was over i though, what an atopshere. great stadium and supporters.

i usually stand fairly close to the players entrance, but not this game or treviso, but few times it didnt seem to be coming from that area. cant comment really biarritz other then it was coming from college road side from where i was in the stand.

connachtexile wrote: From a practical stand point couldn't we get/ask a few of the Connacht Clan lads to stand round the entrance where the ref comes in and out? I'm not talking stewards wise just watch the game from there. It might stop the boo boys from targeting the ref if they have to push through other people to get to him? Don't know how practical it is just a suggestion in doing something useful.

I think if the Connacht Branch wrote something in the next match day programme condemning it or asked one of the local papers to write a story about Gobsh*tes booing the ref at halftime it might shut a few of them up.

It would be no harm to have a few bodies around there alright to try and nip this in the bud.
I would be against coming down too heavy handed for the time being though. Its not happening on a regular basis by any means. Its happened with a minority in the two Heineken games from what I've seen. We've lost to Cardiff, Scarlets and Edinburgh in the league and there was no-one booing the ref at the end.

Certainly writing about it in the local papers would be a bad move imo. Connacht needs all the positive press it can get and the last thing that we need to counter the great result and general great atmosphere from last Friday is an article that may put people off. Whatever issues arise (and relatively speaking they are minor)(at the moment) can and should be dealt with in a much more low key manner to start with.

Going a bit off key on this but I believe the current layout in terms of players and refs entering and exiting the field doesn't help matters. Its great to see the two teams coming out through the clan stand and it adds to the atmosphere but there is too much happening in a small area. I have seen it in other games and sports that where a ref exits through a public area it can lead to issues rather than if he exits to the side. It shouldn't do but invariably it can if a poor decision goes against a particular team. Personally I think a referee shouldn't have to exit the field through a public area and it could be a potential cause of problems if not dealt with. I think the design of the clan stand needs to be looked at in this regard too. As its so difficult to exit you have a lot of people congregating around where the ref exits for a few minutes after the game which doesn't help either.

Some might say that's ignoring the problem but I prefer to see it as getting ahead of the problem before it gets any worse.

BTW I'm not going to be a hypocrite on this, I was giving out stink about the officials at times on Friday but I will make a conscious effort to try and be more restrained in future :pinch:

From a practical stand point couldn't we get/ask a few of the Connacht Clan lads to stand round the entrance where the ref comes in and out? I'm not talking stewards wise just watch the game from there. It might stop the boo boys from targeting the ref if they have to push through other people to get to him? Don't know how practical it is just a suggestion in doing something useful.

I think if the Connacht Branch wrote something in the next match day programme condemning it or asked one of the local papers to write a story about Gobsh*tes booing the ref at halftime it might shut a few of them up.

I think its been blown a bit out of proportion, the ref got a few boos but not much more from what I heard. I think a lot of it was spur of the moment, it was an incredible atmosphere at times in the 2nd half and in such a big game people tend to get carried away with some decisions or non-action from the touch-judges. The energy and atmosphere coming from the crowd for even something like a turnover scrum is 100 times more than the average Rabo game.

At the majority of games I haven't seen any problems. Even when we lost by 1 point last week the ref could easily be picked as a target if people wanted an excuse but there was no hassle.

Its something that needs to be watched to make sure it doesn't spread but the best course of action imo is to get behind the lads going off at half time and full time.

I'd have to agree with most of the opinions expressed here re booing of refs off the pitch. It's one of the few things I don't like about the Clan terrace.
There was always the odd bit of it but this season it seems to have become commonplace.
Jerome Garces looked genuinely shocked at the farewell he received after the Quins game.
Apart from the disrespect, I am extremely confused as to the object of the excercise.
If the referee is doing his job correctly he will ignore the crowd and be impartial. If on the other hand, he doesn't like us for some reason, will calling him a c*** make him:
A: like us more, or
B: the opposite
Answers on a postcard to ERC.

There were two firsts this weekend. The half-time booing was a new one. A veritable diving bell into the murky depths of counterproductivity. It was also the first time I witnessed a ref being booed for a game we actually won. What a historic victory, now lets see if we can't find something to moan about.
I think it also makes the Sportsground a less inviting place to visit (for fans, not just officials) by detracting from the friendly atmosphere we have built up and thus potentially impacts attendances, ticket sales, financial health, and by extension our very existence.
(I freely admit the last point is a tad melodramatic, but hey, it was just going that way).

As a ref myself albeit at a much lower level than the rabo refs you learn to ignore the comments that happen during the match, one mans flat pass is another mans forward pass. personal insults are unacceptable and they are usually from those with a poor understanding of the laws.Also dont confuse a poor understanding of the laws with new supporters, there are many life long die hards who havent a scooby doo about the laws.

While I am happy enough to comment loudly and boo decisions on the pitch once they are leaving then if they are not going to be applauded off then let them off in silence, I dont like the booing of officials off the pitch its not a classy thing to do and very childish.

In general I have no problem with a fair ould booing of the ref when they miss an obvious wrong (the knock-ons were fair game IMO). It just gets up my nose when it is so constant and the vehement, about marginal calls where the ref has to use a judgement call etc... But even still when it is as an immediate reaction it is understandable.
The half time booing was something I hadn't noticed before, so it was a bit of a shock. It's out of order I think.

Great idea about getting people to clad the officials off the pitch. Would send a nice positive message about it.

I have no issue with people calling the ref on stuff that they know that he got wrong. Usually that amounts to stuff the ref missed - like a knock on or a forward pass. No problem with a few shouts to keep him honest. However, in the case of the forward pass or offsides, only a handful of people at any time are in a position to judge - you might be in the right place once every 10 games.

But most of what I hear is people having ago at the ref for stuff he has blown up for. In otherwords they claim he didn't see something he said he saw. How people in the stand feel that they are in a position to say what did or didn't happen at the breakdown is beyond me.

Regarding the booing at the ref's, the only antidote is to clap the match officials off at half time and full time if you are around the entrance. The boo-boys will get the message quick enough. I really like the polite applause for the opposition when they come out too. Old lady at the theatre applause. Then go absolutely mental when Connacht come out! :woohoo:

Someone mentioned the band cranking up The Fields as Dan Parks was lining up the last penalty. That was fantastic. Slightly mischievous maybe, but a lovely touch all the same. Hope I remember that when we do the 'favourite moments of the season thread next year'. They were great visitors.