> Are rugby refs one sided for Europe against samoa?

Are rugby refs one sided for Europe against samoa?

Posted at: 2014-07-08 
These guys are professionals. They might make the odd bad and/or shocking decision, although the ones that do so consistently generally don't make it to the senior officiating levels. And some might call the breakdown in a fashion which suits one team's style of play more than another's. But deliberately make decisions weighted against one side? No. Officiating at that level requires a call to be made on instinct without even thinking about which side is offending. They couldn't be "one-sided" in the sense you mean, even if that was their intent. Samoa's problems with officials (much like the other Island nation's -- witness Tonga's game against Canada yesterday) generally stem from discipline issues involving foul play. You might be able to get away with blatant high tackles and shoulder charges with the way the game is called when these players are at home (although I doubt it given that most of them have Super-15 experience) but in any event it's not the sort of thing one can expect to get away with when you are dealing with IRB-trained international-level refs.

No. A problem is the different style of refereeing. The rules are all the same but interpretations differ. Even in the southern hemisphere, interpretations between Australian/NZ refs differ from those in SA. Its up to the players to adapt.