RFU fume at Venter's comments
In a statement released on Sunday, the Rugby Football Union voiced their great disappointment at the post-match comments made by Saracens head coach Brendan Venter about the referee in his sides Premiership defeat to Leicester.
Venter's Saracens suffered their second defeat of the season, and second in two weeks, at Vicarage Road on Saturday afternoon but it was the performance of the match official which was the focus of the South African's post match comments.
Venter in trouble over ref rant
"The RFU has read the comments made by Brendan Venter, Director of Rugby for Saracens, after the Guinness Premiership game between Saracens and Leicester on 2nd January 2010," read the statement.
"It is the RFU's view that such negative public commentary on the performance of referees, either individually or collectively, and the disclosure of confidential discussions held between the RFU and Mr Venter are highly inappropriate and do not enhance the image of the game. The RFU Legal Officer will be investigating the matter to decide if there is a case to answer under Rule 5.12 for bringing the game into disrepute and if there is will refer that to the Disciplinary Officer."
Venter, it seems, could not face serious disciplinary issues himself if his actions are found to be "a clear contravention of the Code of Conduct established between the RFU and Premier Rugby Limited (PRL) and personally signed by the Directors of Rugby."
Rob Andrew, Elite Rugby Director at the RFU, commented: "We would like to say in the strongest terms that the RFU believes Mr Venter's comments to be unfounded."
"We have one of the most advanced elite refereeing development programmes in world rugby and a number of our referees are on international panels at all levels. If there are concerns to be expressed then we have existing, and tried and tested, channels for doing so. However we believe there is a wider issue here.
"Respect is one of rugby's core values which underpin our sport and that must include respect for the match officials at all times. We cannot go down the route where senior figures in the game do not demonstrate that respect. It is part of all of our professional responsibilities, including those of Directors of Rugby, to be positive role models for our clubs, players and supporters."
Ed Morrison, Head of Elite Referee Development, added: "It was very disappointing to read such negative commentary from a Director of Rugby on the standard of refereeing in England. A referee's job is to remain objective and impartial at all times and Mr Venter's suggestion that this is not the case is highly inappropriate."
"I have absolute faith in all the referees operating in the Guinness Premiership, and all levels below that, in terms of their ability, fitness, professional attitude and commitment to match preparation, and I am comfortable we have the right standard operating procedures in place to monitor referee performance throughout the season.
"To date, we feel we have a very positive working relationship with all the Directors of Rugby and a robust review process with every referee and every club which we undertake after every game. However, we absolutely do not expect those conversations to be reported out of context in the public domain as that would change the dynamic of those reviews."