2/28/10 Texas Division 2 Collegiate Championship: Baylor @ Texas State

"Ed: Players are good judges. They go onto the field expecting you to do your job. But they wont be impressed by your reputation, and if after five minutes they think, hullo, he's not refereeing that part of the game today, they'll be in like a shot"

This was my first time traveling to the Texas "Hill Country." Not going to rant too much about this, but I'd consider it a bad day at the office. Sometimes you just don't get through the players at the start of the game, and it turns into a mire of inconsistency (thought not technically incorrect). As a referee, any time you give out 4 red cards, you've probably had a bad day. Now the fight didn't turn out like the video above, but I imagine it that way for sure. The 4 red cards came from a scrum I blew up for a penalty. I had been having problems with a Tx St props binds who had just subbed on. He wasnt getting bound right and ended up boring/pulling down every time. I had already penalized him once, this was the 2nd time, right around the 60 minute mark. I went for the penalty, the playres stood up, and it was just a brawl from there. I picked out too clear malicious punches to the face (landed) from a Tx St. and Baylor player. One of my assistants (to ARs were provided to me for this game) picked out two other clear offenders in the melee. So, 4 players through and landed malicous punches with the intent to injure....that means....4 red cards. From there on, the game would be 13 v. 13. Post game I got the story for what actually happened to cause the flash point: Baylor hooker went for the hook in the scrum late (after whistle), nailing the oppo hooker in the face. He wasnt happy, punch one, then the party started and quite a few were thrown. So, 4 red cards, that means all those players arent playing on Sunday (final).

Texas State (12):
Tries: 00:35, 60:00 (converted)

Baylor (20)
Tries: 44:20 (converted), 75:50 (Converted)
Penalties: 5:20, 56:01

Notes:

quick try to start the game, lead me to believe might be a blowout

no wrap tackle by texas state, no dangerous result, no penalty
30 seconds later, no wrap tackle, dangerous result, penalty (against tx st).
1 minute later, Penalty for pulling player down in air (against tx st.)
Then a mire of offsides, side entry, tackler not rolling, and more high tackles. It was turning into a real penalty fest, and I was not happy. The teams were playing aggressive rugby, and unfortunately I didn't seem to stamp my foot down enough to prevent the illegal parts of the aggression. The game turned into moving from penalty to penalty for any variety of reasons, but mostly centered around fringing and breakdown infringements. I needed to card, but I couldn't pick up the key infringers nor catch them at an opportune time to throw a card. I would say I lost the game after about 5 minutes because of some delayed reactions giving penalties.

My diagnosis for my issues and high penalty count this game:

Delayed reaction to dangerous play penalties (players losing confidence)
Delayed decisions in general (not sure why I did that)
The players being really pumped for the semifinal championship, not wanting to hear the warnings from the referee to clean up their game - read: I didn't take enough authority.
My ankle being a little sore from the night before (mental block)
No good mental preparation for me

On Sunday I ran touch for the final which was a bit of a blowout to Texas Tech, clearly the best team out there. A very enjoyable experience.