Border Rugby Referees Society

Argentina v England

David Changleng was appointed to the Argentina versus England June Test. The International was taken to the Provincial City of Salta. This beautiful Argentinian City is over 1800 kilometres North of Buenos Aires and at an altitude of over 1200 metres. It proved to be a busy first half for David as he had to flag twice for foul play. Referee Alan Lewis was just about keeping a lid on a fiery Test match. " 30,000 vociforous locals were shouting for everything going and concentration levels had to be at their sharpest" David observed. David has run touch at over 25 Internationals and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. " I have run touch in the 6 Nations and in the Tri Nations but this match proved to be as tough as any. There is no love lost between these two Nations and it was maybe good for Alan, myself and the other TJ (Simon McDowell) that it was a narrow home win! " David has been on the IRB TJ panel since running touch for Ireland v Italy in 2003. His ambition now is to go on and run touch at RWC 2011 in New Zealand.

 

 
Georgia V Romania
Saturday 14 March 2009
 
Border team of three appointed by SRU to officiate at the World Cup Qualifier in Tiblisi on 14 March 2009 was a blend of youth, experience and age - Andrew MacMenemy, Iain Heard and Ronnie Dumma. Menners first international.
Intrepid trio set of from Borders at 9.30am on Thursday 12 March not knowing what was ahead in the travel stakes.
Journey from Borders to Edinburgh airport uneventful. Check in OK but showed 20 minute delay to flight to Frankfurt. Regular check at departures screen and 20 minute delay became 40 minutes then 50 minutes then 75 minutes and eventually flight left just over 2 hours late. This resulted in missed connection to Munich. Helpful Lufthansa staff had us and bags booked on next available flight to Munich. Arrived in Munich well after we should have and after flight to Tiblisi had left. Only one flight Tiblisi per day from Munich so booked on flight 24 hours later.
Again Lufthansa staff very helpful and had us booked in and transported to hotel in no time. Had a meal at night. Wine list featured a certain red wine Selkirk Shiraz but at nearly £36 a bottle gave it a miss.
Next day spent sight seeing in Munich - but wet, cold and lack of any real sites in Munich meant we settled for lazing about in Munich airport until flight at 9.15pm. Being a Tourism officer in Munich must be a challenging job! Four hour flight and tim e delay result in us getting to accommodation in Tiblisi around 4.30am on Saturday morning - some 24 hours later than expected.
Latish breakfast on Saturday morning and taken for lunch (Italian) by ex Georgian international Nono who was a perfect host for the weekend. Back to hotel, changed and headed to stadium where game was to be played. International stadium, 50,000 capacity. Actual crowd for game around 20,000 although free entry. Crowd control at game came in the shape of 1,500 riot police in full gear - not sure if they were there for crowd or our benefit, but not needed for either!
Pregame weather atrocious (Munich weather had followed us!) but relented and game played in dry conditions. Andrew will provide details of game but to sum up - electric start resulting in Romania - being 13-7 up after 8 minutes. Things calmed down a bit and final score ended up 28-23 in favour of the home team (Menners stuck to the script here going for home win which guarantees good night out!) Andrew handled himself very well for first game at this level and emerged with great credit. Hard fought game, much at stake (Romanian coach sacked after game due to teams results in FIRA tournament) and over the piece a reasonable game of rugby.
Now to the serious stuff - showered, changed and taken to only Irish bar in Tbilisi - The Hangar Bar (run by a mad Irish woman we were told - she was not there - but her husband, and American, was). My kind of bar - never had to put my hands in my pocket! Watched first half of Italy v Wales then taken to after game reception where an excellent meal was had - not sure what we were eating but whatever it was it was good. Wine was also very palatable. Reception completed and back to Hangar Bar for part of first half and whole of second half of Scotland v Ireland. Enough said about that. Enjoyed more free hospitality and a banter with the regulars - an eclectic mix of ex-pats who are Tiblisi mainly for work reasons and who look as if all there spare time is spent in the bar.
Especially the small rotund Englishman who was in charge of the many satellite dishes/stations they have to allow any kind of sport to be viewed at an time from any country in the world I think.
Latish to bed but not before taxi driver was stopped and breathalysed yards from our accommodation. Accommodation was halls of residence attached to cultural centre of Tiblisi and had a number of things missing like other residents and a bar! Nice young reception lady who took Menners fancy I think.
Sunday was due to be a long-sight seeing day but curtailed a bit as tour guide Nono was a bit hungover and did not appear until later than expected - at least he turned up for us and did not leave us like Polish Match Commissioner who was left at last minute to get taxi to airport. Remainder of day spent sight seeing and wonderful meal in nice restaurant eating local dishes (very kindly paid for by American owner of Hangar Bar). Meal was excellent although Menners and Heardy did not try vegetables. Most OK but peppers dipped in what tasted like TCP a bit different. After meal, back to Hangar Bar where we took in England V France game. Same crowd as previous day except joined by some French guys who had very little to say for themselves despite being wound up by English guy with things like “OK Froggies where’s your cock today then”. Got no response or reaction thankfully as we were between him and the French guys.
After game went to airport where we had a long wait until flight left at something like 4am on Monday morning. Flights back home OK and on time. Caught up a wee bit with sleep on flights and what with time differences and wait in airport arrived back in Borders around 2pm on the Monday afternoon.
A truly memorable weekend although some things take a bit of time to get used to - police cars continually have lights flashing and sirens going, number of cars with bullet holes in windscreens, rules of the road appear to be completely different from anywhere else in the world, mechanics would never make money as cars appear not be repaired, not sure how some of the buildings stand up, extreme poverty judging by some of the places where people live, credit crunch has impacted as a lot of the building work has just stopped completely and not a place I would recommend for the summer holidays (although would be hig her than Munich).
Very well hosted (apart from lack of bar facilities where we stayed), good game well refereed by Andrew, great company and banter over the weekend from time I picked guys up in Gala on the Thursday until we got home on the Monday (although comment in Munich airport re lack of a desk number 633 bit close to red card) meant for a memorable weekend.

Montauban v Sale
 
Early start on Friday morning to get to game which was not until 7pm on Saturday evening. Delay to flight at Edinburgh resulted in missed connection in Charles De Gaulle airport. Likelihood connection would have been missed anyway as only 50 minutes between flights and needing to change terminal. Very efficient Air France staff had us on next flight which was 2 hours later. Got to Toulouse around 6pm on the Friday and enjoyed a nice meal in very good French restaurant. Saw second half of Castres v Leinster on TV which resulted in a home win – something which you would not have bet on if you had seen the game between the two sides the week before.
 
Late breakfast on Saturday morning and spent the morning having a pleasant wander around Toulouse town centre. Failed in my hunt for a Starbuck’s which is part of Peter Allan’s pre game ritual although French coffee beats Starbuck’s any day.   Had a very nice lunch in very busy French restaurant and watched Biarritz v Cardiff  before heading to Montauban for our game.
 
Weather had been kind up until we set off for Montauban. Unfortunately the rain which was forecast came with a vengeance and whole game was played in very wet conditions. Extremely partisan French crowd but great atmosphere in full stadium of around 8,000. Cycling track between pitch and crowd on which I very much doubt if Chris Hoy would have been able to break any records given state of it.
 
Hard fought game with very little in it. Montauban scored only try of game through kick and chase and just about deserved their win. Like a few return games French clubs managed to reverse the results of the previous week although weather certainly a bit of a leveller. Very good performance by Peter Allan in a game which took a bit of refereeing given the weather and competitiveness. Total concentration required and Peter stuck to his task all the way through with good sensible, decision making and did not have to use any yellow cards.
 
After game meal very good. Did not stay long and drove back to Toulouse, had one drink in bar and off to bed. 5am start in morning as early flight from Toulouse airport to Charles De Gaulle. Made connection easy and no issues resulting in me getting home around 1pm. Another enjoyable weekend with no real issues on or off the park
 
Ronnie Dumma

 

MONTPELLIER V BRISTOL

 

An early morning start with Alan Forrest arriving at my house around 4am to get to the airport and meet Andrew Macpherson. We flew to Montpellier via Paris and arrived there around lunchtime. As ever we were picked up by the local referee liaison man Gerard who is a former senior policeman. He is married to an English woman so his English is very good saving our embarrassing attempts at French.

 

We were driven to our hotel in the centre of the town and once the bags were dumped we headed out for a spot of lunch in the main square. A relaxing afternoon in the hotel was followed by a trip out in the evening to the Greyhound bar for a small sparkling water and then to a local restaurant for an excellent steak.

 

We headed back to the Greyhound bar for a nightcap and met up with some Bristol fans who we engaged in a spot of socialising with. Unfortunately after an hour or so the jetlag kicked in and Trees had a wee kip.

 

The following morning we were joined by David Changleng who had flown in that morning. We had a stroll round the town in lovely weather and lunch before resting in the afternoon.

 

We were picked up and taken to the game in Montpellier’s magnificent new stadium. The game itself went reasonably well for Andy with a couple of TMO calls to keep me awake.

 

The after match function was superb with excellent food and wine. We headed back to the hotel dumped the bags and went to meet the Bristol fans back in the Greyhound bar. A round of applause as we entered the bar was followed by a great hour or so of good natured banter.

 

Heading home in the morning we had a long wait in Paris before getting our flight back to Edinburgh. A long 80+ hours for an 80 minute game but very enjoyable as usual.

 

Iain Heard

Leinster 33 – Castres 3; Royal Dublin Showground; Saturday 6 December 2008; 1.35pm
 
Leinster easy winners over a Castres side who were pretty unimaginative. Leinster only managed 3 tries but had ample opportunities to rack up double that number. Handling errors costing them dearly on what was dry, bright but bloody cold day in Dublin. Pretty uneventful game with not too much in the way of continuity given the number of mistakes made by Leinster and Castres found it extremely difficult to get out of own half. Disjointed game with plenty injuries and actual time in each half was 50 minutes in first and 49 minutes in second – given TV schedule guys palpitations as coverage getting close to overrunning and impacting on next game. Statistics on possession at one time late in game 75/25 in Leinster favour. If on territory would have been heading for 90/10 I would think.
 
Peter Allan refereeing and had another very competent game even managing a sprinkling of French in his communication with the away side! Rob Dickson on one touchline, myself on the other with Jim Yuille in TMO seat and being called upon on a couple of occasions
 
Off the field – post match meal worst Lasagne I have ever had; early kick off fatal as far more drinking time which was spent in a great pub called The Barge drinking a mixture of Guinness and wine. Came down to breakfast on the Sunday to be told that all bacon/sausage etc products made from Irish pigs had been taken of menu due to possible toxin contamination. This the morning after we all had the works at breakfast with everything pork based! Also meal on Friday had to be pork based as it was in an  excellent restaurant called The Pig’s Ear.
 
Ronnie Dumma