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James Doleman and Maro Itoje.

Match Officials

‘Specific’ captains and the other big ref focuses for Lions series

20-minute red cards are now in play for all of professional rugby.

4.04pm, 27 Jun 2025

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YOU MIGHT HAVE overheard the exchange between Lions captain Maro Itoje and referee James Doleman just after Argentina’s breakaway try in the last act of the first half in Dublin last Friday night.

Well, you might have overheard Doleman’s part in it.

Itoje was a little far away from the ref mic to be clearly audible, but it was obvious that he was protesting the legitimacy of the Argentina try, which came after the ball squirted out of Lions wing Duhan van der Merwe’s grasp.

“Be specific,” was Doleman’s response after Itoje first spoke to him.

“The ball was out,” continued New Zealand’s Doleman.

“Maro, we’re not just going to have a lolly scramble. Be specific with what you’re asking.”

A ‘lolly scramble’ is a Kiwi children’s game where sweets are thrown into the air and kids scramble around to catch them or scoop them off the ground. It’s chaotic.

Itoje took a breath and made a more specific query, with Doleman asserting again that Argentina had legally played the ball.

What we’re really interested in here is Doleman’s demand that Itoje be “specific.”

This relates to one of the guidelines World Rugby has issued to its top referees ahead of the British and Irish Lions series in Australia, as well as the rest of the international games around the world in the coming weeks.

Ben O’Keeffe of New Zealand, Italy’s Andrea Piardi, and Nika Amashukeli of Georgia will referee the three Tests in Australia. Their decision-making will be crucial.

Andrea Piardi will referee the second Lions Test.Billy Stickland / INPHO

Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

World Rugby wants referees to make it clear that captains can’t forcefully challenge every single decision throughout a game.

National teams have been told that their skippers need to be calm and specific when they believe something might have been missed and needs to be checked by the Television Match Official [TMO].

It seems that leading referees feel some captains are simply questioning too many decisions, sometimes chancing their arm even if they aren’t sure themselves.

And World Rugby has told match officials that this needs to work both ways. Referees have been directed to be respectful and open in dealing with captains’ queries around the big moments in games, things like tries and cards.

Even if there aren’t formal reviews, World Rugby has told teams that their captains being specific, calm, and precise in their interaction with the referee will often allow the TMO to quietly check things in the background.

So Doleman and Itoje’s exchange might not be the only time we hear the request for “specific” information in the coming weeks.

One of the major focuses in this international window is the 20-minute red card, which is now in play for the Lions series and all other professional rugby.

Ireland fans got a taste for the 20-minute red card when centre Garry Ringrose was shown one during this year’s Six Nations clash with Wales. Ringrose was initially yellow-carded and his high tackle was referred for an off-field review, after which his sanction was upgraded to a 20-minute red card. Bundee Aki replaced Ringrose after that period.

Garry Ringrose had a yellow card upgraded to a 20-minute red during the Six Nations.Dan Sheridan / INPHO

Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

All of the Lions Tests will involve a foul play review officer [FPRO] who is tasked specifically with carrying out such off-pitch reviews.

However, Ireland’s two Tests against Georgia and Portugal don’t have FPROs, so the off-field reviews will be done by the TMO. That means the on-pitch officials will need to be even more alert while the TMO is carrying out any off-pitch review.

It’s worth underlining here that full, permanent red cards are still part of the game.

However, the only person who can make the decision to issue a permanent red card is the referee. FPROs and TMOs cannot upgrade a sanction to a permanent red card, only to a 20-minute red.

Referees have been reminded that they can and should issue permanent red cards for foul play that involves a high level of danger, is intentional, and is always illegal.

World Rugby wants referees to be strong enough to show permanent red cards in these instances.

So offences like shoulder charges to the head, deliberate targeting of the lower limbs of defenders jackaling for a breakdown turnover, and more obvious stuff like punching, kicking, head-butting should be met with a permanent red card.

Take, for example, this incident of foul play by Italy’s Giacomo Nicotera against Ireland during the Six Nations.

Nicotera was shown a yellow card for this shoulder charge to Peter O’Mahony’s head, with the incident sent for off-field review.

However, World Rugby has seemingly directed that this should have been a permanent red card because it was a shoulder charge with a high degree of danger and always illegal.

Nicotera’s ‘tucked shoulder’ in this instance has been highlighted as one of the cues in determining an illegal shoulder charge, along with the player’s palm facing backwards away from the contact, or a clenched fist as they make contact.

Some incidents of head contact won’t involve a high degree of danger – for example, when there is indirect contact to the head – and the 20-minute red card should still apply in those instances.

And even when there is a high degree of danger involved, if the foul play is not deliberate or intentional, then it should be punished with a 20-minute red card.

So take Ringrose’s tackle against Wales as an example. World Rugby has advised that there was a high degree of danger involved but that Ringrose attempted to wrap in the tackle, so it wasn’t always illegal. That’s why a 20-minute red card was the right call.

Another element of foul play that referees have been told to watch out for is dangerous low tackling where the defender goes off their feet to make a tackle.

Tackles like the one above where the defender has a knee on the ground before tackling have been cause for concern given the obvious possibility of injury for both the ball-carrier and the tackler themselves.

The breakdown is always a key battleground in any game of rugby, but things have changed there in recent times as scrum-halves have been given more space to operate.

Referees have been reminded that defenders can’t swing up the sides of the breakdown to muddy the recycle.

No one can play the scrum-half from within the ruck anyway, but some players have subtly been swinging up into the attacking team’s space and acting innocent, sometimes even asking referees if they can hook the ball back with their feet. This kind of stuff should be swiftly penalised.

The match officials have been asked to be more vigilant in punishing defenders at the fringes of the breakdown sneaking onside, while they’ve also been asked to focus on ensuring players chasing restarts aren’t getting ahead of the kicker.

There has been emphasis put on teams’ backlines not breaking the 10-metre offside line before lineouts have ended. This also applies to the attack, with many attacking teams stealing a march on the defence by breaking the 10-metre line.

As ever, the set-piece contests will be key in the Lions series and every other Test match this summer.

Some of the key focuses at lineout time are ensuring that defensive jumpers are not leaping across the lineout and landing on opponents, as well as ensuring there is no contact on opponents’ arms or hands while in the air.

The lineout, maul, and scrum will be pivotal in Australia.Dan Sheridan / INPHO

Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

There will be renewed focus on receivers or ‘+1′ players only being allowed to join the lineout before the throw if they are clearly replacing another player who leaves the lineout.

Some teams are making several switches of receiver pre-throw to confuse the defence, but World Rugby want it to be crystal clear.

At maul time, referees have been asked to ensure that defenders have clear access to the lineout jumper when they land and aren’t obstructed by lifters ‘double banking’ ahead of their jumper.

On the other side, match officials have been asked to refocus on defenders entering the maul at their side’s hindmost foot and only coming through the middle of the maul. Defenders have increasingly been testing the waters by swinging up the sides of mauls, so referees will look to clamp down on that.

The scrum will be an intriguing part of the Lions series, with the tourists probably believing that they can get momentum in this area against the Wallabies.

The match officials will be aiming for fewer reset scrums and fewer collapses by focusing on a couple of key elements.

Front rows will be reminded not to touch their opponents before the ‘bind’ call in order to ensure a gap remains, while hookers will have to clearly apply the ‘brake foot’ to help create better balance in both scrums.

The brake foot is where a hooker has one foot positioned forward in the middle of the tunnel of the scrum to bring about more stability.

Referees will demand that the hooker’s brake foot is clearly visible and that it only moves backwards when they call ‘set.’ So we will probably hear plenty of mentions of the brake foot during this Lions series.

Referees have also been encouraged to use penalty sanctions sooner rather than later to discourage negative scrum behaviour that prevents a genuine contest from developing.

So, as ever, there is a huge amount for the match officials to nail in these huge international games. Who’d be a ref?

Murray Kinsella

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