O'Brien pleased with refs

Paddy O'Brien, well known as one of the top Test referees in the world and now in charge of the International Rugby Board's referees, has expressed his pleasure at the way the scrums have been played in the pool matches of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Before the tournament the scrum had been identified as a potential source of problems for match officials.

But O'Brien said after 40 matches that had proved not to be the case.

He said: "I think the scrummaging during the tournament so far has not been a key part of the World Cup. I mean there have been some issues with some teams, but I suppose (a feeling going) into the tournament was that the scrums might dominate but they haven't.

"I just think that the willingness of all teams to participate within the laws of the game has been a feature and that has been a standout for me."

Apart from the scrums he said that praise should also be given for the players' respect of the off-side area, one of the five major points of concern this year.

He said: "We have seen players certainly buy into offside around the fringes. We think there has been a huge improvement there."

Asked what mark out of 10 he would give to the officials, recognising that the perfect 10 was not possible because everyone makes mistakes, O'Brien replied: "I would give them seven-and-a-half to eight with an arrow going upwards. 

"We are never going to reach 10 because the nature of the game doesn't allow us to but I want to see us get to at least nine come quarter-finals onwards."

He added: "Of course there have been some errors, and we have addressed them with the referees. You are not going to have no errors in 40 games of rugby, but as an overall package I am delighted with the refereeing.

"We can get better and hopefully come the last eight matches, which are hugely important, the accuracy will be paramount.

"There are going to be errors by players, there are going to be errors by referees. We will minimise them and we also want to make sure that if there are errors, they are not game-changing decisions."

O'Brien said that the high quality of the refereeing had added to everyone's enjoyment of RWC 2011.

"I think as a spectacle it has been fantastic," he said.

"You only have to watch the games on TV, see how the crowds have embraced it, and the quality of the rugby has been outstanding. There has to be some credit given to the referees there."

But he hoped that after the final whistle on October 23 the name on everyone's lips would not be the referee's.

"Let's hope at the end of it we are talking about the quality of the rugby and not about some refereeing decision."