Reportable Events

ORDERING OFF

The Referee concerned must report any and all players ordered off to the Honorary Secretary as soon as is practically possible after a match. In the event of a registered player(s) from a National League side, including any yellow cards this MUST be before MIDDAY on the Monday after the game. The Honorary Secretary must forward any of the National League offenders to Bruce Reece Russell at Twickenham by Midday on Monday after the game in question, where the Referee has not already done so. For all other offenders the RED Card forms only must be forwarded to the Honorary Secretary of the Society within 72 hours.

For National League offenders-Two yellow card offences mean that a red card form must be sent in as well.

Complete the official disciplinary form (in duplicate) without delay.

Send the original to the appropriate County

LANCASHIRE CLUBS                     

Brain Stott                                    

CHESHIRE WEST

David Wilde       8, Wirral Close Bebington, Wirral CH63 3BJ      0151 3343750                

CHESHIRE EAST

John Downham  216, London Road, Nortwich, Cheshire CW9 8AQ    01606 48962 johndownham57@sky.com

For any Clubs outside the area, send the forms to the Secretary of the appropriate County, whose address if not known can be obtained from the Honorary Secretary of the Liverpool Society. In any event send a duplicate copy to the Honorary Secretary.

Whilst reports should be concise, precise and factual, any opinion or perceived intentions must NOT be expressed. Do supply an accurate context, regardless of the Language used. If a blow has been struck, describe it carefully and ensure that any injury received and treatment required is described. Please retain a copy for your records.

LEGAL ACTIONS/ POLICE INQUIRIES

A referee who may have witnessed an alleged criminal incident is in the same position as any other civilian witness, and may be approached by the Police with a view to providing a statement with regard to that incident. The Referee should not in the first instance make any comment or statement before he has approached the Society's Secretary who can then advise Twickenham/Castlecroft.

The advice of the Society's Hon. Solicitor is imperative, if there is any suggestion of proceedings against the referee. More likely though is a legal action against a player.

If the Police are involved then Twickenham must be advised. If the referee detected foul play and it resulted in an ordering off or caution (yellow card), the report form should be released to the Police representatives.

If it is felt appropriate for the referee to make a statement then it is advisable that the Society's solicitor is present and if he is not present then the referee should NOT sign any statement until the Solicitor has vetted it. The referee should only refer to the incident, which was witnessed, and not make any assumptions of what might have happened in the match prior to the incident.

 Recent experience in these situations suggests that the Police representatives will attempt to lead a referee to make statements about perceived intentions of players and to make suggestions on what could have happened, given what happened before an incident.

REFEREE ABUSE

All incidents of personal abuse from players, officials, club members and spectators, before, during or after a game, including in the Club House MUST be reported to the Society Secretary. The Match Official Abuse form is available on request from the Honorary Secretary and must be returned as soon as possible. These will in turn be forwarded to Twickenham no later than 7 days after the incident. A copy should also be sent to the County Secretary of the offending club. Details, where not known, can be obtained from the Honorary Secretary.

GENERAL DISSATISFCATION

Where the standard of communication, organization or attitude of a Club Official disappoints a referee s/he may contact the Honorary Secretary who may offer to deal with the situation informally.

If the matter is with an Adviser, Society Officer or a fellow referee, in the first instance the referee should attempt to resolve the issue with the individual. If this proves to be unacceptable the Honorary Secretary can often deal with the matter informally.   More serious matters should be made known to the Management Committee in writing with full details

SERIOUS INJURY

If a player is involved with a serious injury during a match that you are refereeing, it is important to provide a written report to the RFU Sports Injury Administrator. A serious injury is one sustained in playing, or formal training, which prevents a player from being actively involved in Rugby Football for a period of 21 days or more.

A very serious injury is one, which because of its severity, may result in an insurance claim. For insurance claims the injury must have been sustained whilst playing rugby in a recognised game in which a player was to play or had played. The referee should include the following in his/her report:

                                                            Referee's name and Society

                                                            Home and away team names

                                                            Date of Accident & injured players name and playing position

                                                            Time of accident and ground conditions

                                                            Weather conditions and type of injury sustained.

A simple factual and accurate report of what happened, action taken (e.g. match stopped) and other relevant information.

NON-CONTESTED SCRUMMAGES

 A referee should be fully conversant with any rules of the various competitions. The Law Book and Society Handbook are useful references. In respect of replacements, it is good practice to establish with the Captains, before the match, how many players there are, their names and positions. In League and Cup matches teams are obliged to present their match cards to the referee before kick off and to list clearly (using the notation FR) the recognised Front row players.