New Pro 12 referee commissioner - Ed Morrison

PRO12 Rugby today announced that it has appointed former international referee Ed Morrison as a refereeing consultant,

charged primarily with overseeing the appointment of match officials to the Guinness PRO12 but also working closely with the referee managers of the four PRO12 Unions and the European referee manager.

Ed brings a wealth of refereeing experience, having commenced refereeing in 1981 in the Bristol Refereeing Society when a knee injury brought an end to his playing career. During Ed's active refereeing career he took charge of 41 major international tests. He participated in 3 Rugby World Cups culminating in his appointment as referee in the iconic 1995 South Africa V New Zealand Rugby World Cup Final in South Africa. On retirement from refereeing in 2000 Ed was offered a referee development role by the RFU and from 2008 was the RFU's Elite Referee Development Manager until he left in September 2013.

Commenting on the appointment Ed Crozier, PRO12 Board member, SRU, said, "We are delighted to welcome Ed Morrison as an independent referee commissioner. PRO12 Rugby is continually trying to improve the standard of officiating and this appointment is showing a commitment to fulfil that objective. Our competition is unique in that it involves 12 teams in 4 countries with neutral officials from all 4 national rugby unions involved. Ed Morrison will assist in independently selecting the match officials and so greatly help the referee managers of the 4 Unions involved.

The profile of the Guinness PRO12 keeps on increasing and this additional support of officiating recognises the invaluable contribution of our match officials to the tournament," he said.

Chunky will be happy to hear this.

SecretFly wrote:Chunky will be happy to hear this.

Good timing


Its a welcome development and something people were asking for. Some of the home town decisions last season were a bit farcical.

He'll have his work cut out for him. Just watched the Munster vs Scarlets game and the Italian ref was unbelievably poor. So bad in fact he should be sanctioned for that performance.

I don't like to usually get on referees backs as I appreciate the role they play and that making those decisions can be difficult at the best of times. However I do think the league needs to focus on removing consistently poor referees because the Pro 12 shouldn't be a training ground for referees. The league should demand polished referee performances. It's about maintaining standards.

That Italian referee is a good ref! I thought he was easily the best ref in the last u20 6N by far but I think he just needs more experience at this level.

He was very poor yesterday but so was Mitrea when he first started out. They just need the experience.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:That Italian referee is a good ref! I thought he was easily the best ref in the last u20 6N by far but I think he just needs more experience at this level.

He was very poor yesterday but so was Mitrea when he first started out. They just need the experience.

Not wanting to sound harsh, but our players need to nine their skills in the age grades and semi pros, b&I cup, before they get near our pro12 sides. The league is a pro comp and should be treated as one, and not as a development tool. The whole RCC qualification etc, rides on the league, and poor officials make it pathetic to watch, and it must be even worse for players, coaches.

I'm hoping Ed Morrison's job is to educate the refs and centralise thinking if you know what I mean.

Of all the major leagues and super rugby the pro 12 is the only one up to this point without a commissioner who can show them where they're going wrong. 'You learn from your mistakes'. That's a true saying but in the pro 12 refs defence, they've needed someone to point out the mistakes.

Each union has their own referee manager so the refs are getting some feedback but IMO the unions themselves are not helping the refs get better.

It seems like every game now people are complaining about the ref. Fact of the matter is a lot of it comes down to interpretation and the refs have a short time to make a decision. Interpretations vary wildly also so that's an area they can learn from each other.

Some refs won't be the finished product when starting out in the pro 12. It will be played at a different pace and intensity to what they were used to and you have a bigger crowd roaring for every decision. That takes time to get used to.

There's also way more pressure being put on by fans. Cheat chants, booing etc. You can have an incident slowed down on a TV reply and people will argue about it based on their own interpretations. That means its impossible for a ref to be right, he has to be wrong according to some interpretation.

There's been non stop complaining about refs lately and the season has only started. Sure, its perfectly fine to point out mistakes etc and refs can have bad days too, which should be pointed out but things have gone overboard with many refs automatically presumed to be an enemy of a team. The only time I see refs praised is when their team has gotten the majority of the decisions!

ScarletSpiderman wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:That Italian referee is a good ref! I thought he was easily the best ref in the last u20 6N by far but I think he just needs more experience at this level.

He was very poor yesterday but so was Mitrea when he first started out. They just need the experience.

Not wanting to sound harsh, but our players need to nine their skills in the age grades and semi pros, b&I cup, before they get near our pro12 sides.  The league is a pro comp and should be treated as one, and not as a development tool.  The whole RCC qualification etc, rides on the league, and poor officials make it pathetic to watch, and it must be even worse for players, coaches.

I'm sure this ref has come up through the levels though. He would have almost certainly reffed in the Italian league (higher standard than the B&I cup) and he was in the u20 6n last year where I was impressed with his performances.

No level will prepare them for the Pro12 as the stadard is just so much greater, but he (along with any new refs) need time to adjust to the league. I think he will come good just like Mitrea.

LF4L I guess your right, maybe some form of progressive pathway in place would help. Say national league, U20s, Pro12 linesman, Pro12 TMO (always seem to be retired refs, but surely it is easier than being a ref??), then Pro12 ref.