Lifeimi Mafi hates it when referees get in his way

Against Edinburgh last year, young Munster centre Lifeimi Mafi did something that I bet the majority of us wish we had the opportunity to do.

Seeing the ref in front of him, blocking his path to the tackle, Mafi decides that, besides the bright yellow jersey, he can get away with it.

I love the way the ref just jumps up again as if nothing happened.


Time: 0:42
Note: Thanks to Proinsias who requested this and told us where to find it.

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Classic Clip - the Ref makes his point

As the Northern hemisphere rugby scene welcomes back many players that were away on World Cup duty, we look at a classic moment brought to us by not a star player, but by a referee for a change.

The game was between London Irish & Gloucester recently, and as referee Sean Davey spots a repeated infringement, you can see the opposition players around him clapping their hands expecting the inevitable. He calls across the guilty party to give him what we expect to be his marching orders. What he does is absolutely classic.

Just enjoy, and respect the calm and collected attitude displayed here by him. For pulling it off perfectly and doing something that has probably never been done by a ref anywhere before at this level of sport we say well done mate.

Perhaps these ref fella's do have a sense of humour after all.

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Classic Clip - Referee trips over player

Though it can, at times, seem unlikely - referees are human too. In this Super 12 match from a few seasons ago we see Kiwi ref Scott Young go for a tumble.

In fact, I'm sure most of us saw it coming before it happened. Both the player on the ground and the ref have a laugh about it though, as did we.

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Blues score a try from a quick lineout - Poor refereeing

This is a controversial incident from the Blues vs Force game. The ball is kicked into touch but the Blues take the quick lineout with another ball, which results in a try. This is against the laws of the game, and the Blues know that.

It's amazing that the ref and his touch judge couldn't see this. In Jonathan Kaplan's defence, he went on what the touch judge, James Lekkie, said he saw.

The Ref and Touch Judge are taking all the flak for this, but I feel that there's a degree of bad sportsmanship involved here also. Ali Williams is the player who catches the other ball and tosses it in. He should never have done so.

Yes, you take what you get, but that doesn't make it right.

Surely the TMO should be allowed to intervene in situations like this. Two weeks in a row we've seen incidents where if the TMO ruling were more flexible, it would make the game smoother, and there wouldn't be cock-ups like this.

Law 19.2 QUICK THROW-IN
(d) For a quick throw-in, the player must use the ball that went into touch. If, after it went to touch and was made dead, another ball is used, or if another person has touched the ball apart from the player throwing it in, then the quick throw-in is disallowed. The same team throws in at the line-out.

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Wales robbed by the ref

Italy beat Wales 23-20 in this years Six Nations at the Stadio Flaminio. A great victory for the Italians, but overshadowed by a terrible refereeing decision at the end.

Wales were awarded a penalty, having checked with White that there was time for them to kick for touch and go for a match-winning try, they turned down the chance to go for the three points that might have earned them a draw.

When Wales did kick for touch White immediately blew for full-time leaving the Wales players angry and frustrated.

White was at least man enough to issue an apology for the confusion though. The Italian halfback Alessandro Troncon had no sympathy for the Wales players, blaming them for taking too long deciding what to do. He said: "Wales had 10 seconds left to play but the referee was correct because the Welsh players were talking about what to do and they took their time. Fortunately for us the official correctly decided to blow the final whistle."

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Paulse try vs Scotland - Ref gets tackled though!

Springbok winger Breyton Paulse finishes off this excellent try by the Boks against Scotland earlier in the year, but just behind him the Scottish halfback takes out the referee!! Watch carely for it...

Also, notice Paulse's ridiculous hairstyle. He came back from France like that.. thank goodness he came across a mirror shortly after that match, and sense prevailed.

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