Are we ever equally at fault for an ejection?

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by bkdow

I have seen incidents where referees' choice of words or when they chose to say things has pour gas on a simmering fire.

I've encountered rugby referees who, if there were some super-referee officiating their "game", would have been DQd or at least penalized.

One of them when he penalized you would give you a scolding as if what you'd done wasn't merely a violation (and not a dangerous one) in a game, but some moral failing that would rate an apology to the gods of the game. I've seen players & coaches taking games too seriously, but here was a referee with that failing. Like, OK, just penalize me, don't try to embarrass me!

Another I encountered only once, and maybe he was just having a really, really bad day. I was a touch judge in that game from one team, and this ref was...paranoid. He was handing out the equivalent of USC penalties with little or no provocation, and overhearing statements that weren't about him and taking them to be about him -- and taking them adversely! I went to him after the game to explain one of those situations, thinking maybe I could make him feel better, as he had a drained look, but he would have nothing of it. I just hope he wasn't normally like that, and maybe was fulfilling an obligation by refereeing that game on a day something horrible had happened in his family or something.