I thought Chris Kendall had a good game refereeing last night. Ironically when Powell decides to make a point to the contrary (some people might say spit out his dummy). Seems even the (sometimes sensationalised/biased) Sky team refuted Powell and were bemused by his comments and opinion of the Ref. Thought Jon Wells summary at the end of the game was well balanced and in opposition to what Powell had said - which I think Wells should be applauded for to maintain his impartiality considering his recent appointment at Cas. Wonder how that will play out between Wells and Powell?
Okay, the ref made a few errors (including trusting some of the TJs calls) - but pretty few. It's a fast paced game and that's bound to happen. He was willing to make decisions on the field, which is refreshing and he got the majority right too.
We are all too quick to judge poor refereeing performances, which is magnified and exaggerated with the scrutiny of today's technologies and society - but we are less quick to praise good performances, which I think this was. I'm not saying the refereeing standards in our sport are where they should be, they need to be improved and be more consistent whilst maintaining the spectacle of our sport... but yesterday's game was an example of a decent refereeing performance and i think worth pointing out. Can't quite understand Powell's reaction for this particular match - i think he must have just got wrapped up in the emotions of the crowd on the night.
Agree that Kendall did ok last night. There were a few 50/50 calls which I thought went against Saints but on watching the game again this morning he got them right. Cas fans forum has gone into meltdown. The Cas fans who know the rules are actually correcting the posters who obviously don't.
EG ' Our players were within the 10 but didn't touch Barba' - correct call pointed out
Comparing the tackle on Amor with the one on Watts - again corrected by Cas fans
The Barba try - 'Yes the ball went back off Swift's knee but then it bounced forward' - corrected by Cas fans
Powell made a misguided comment to say the least but he was obviously fizzing about Cas's performance and was too emotional to pass any measured comment. I do feel though, that Mr Happy has shown on a number of occasions that Ge is a sore loser.
I wondered if the refs are now being encouraged to utilise the video ref less in light of the new rules proposals. Chris Kendall was pretty poor earlier this season but he's seems to be a bit more confident, this was a high profile game for him as mentioned made a few errors but overall his performance was acceptable. Powell just seemed to blame Kendall for all the inconsistency of the other refs, if that was Justin Holbrook he would have just taken it on the chin and moved on to the next game.
Probably have some new fans that don't understand the rules yet. They keep saying that the ref was terrible but can't point to one poor decision in the game other than their first try. Think they were looking for excuses from the first minute because they knew it was going to be a long night for them
Didn't hear many complaints from them last year when the won the equivalent game with a try that was 5 yards offside on the replay
Spot on St.Christopher, ref made on field decisions that kept the flow of the game,even if one went against us he still should be praised for making the decision without the VR as our line was breached easily. Powell sounded like he is sick of the sight of us this year already, the Cup match though never in doubt was closer than the score suggests, the league matches however we have handed them a physical and mental hiding so far.
I also thought Kendall put in a reasonable performance last night. I can easily excuse his award of their first try as his (correct) positioning on the pitch did not allow him to see the fumble - any fault must lie at the door of the touch judge who obviously did not see the error. With the other video ref decisions, although he elected for “try”, the fact that he went for second opinions shows that he had some doubts; I do wonder, however, what he would have decided had it been a non-televised game.
As has been said many times, some of the fans’ displeasure with the standard of refereeing is a consequence of broadcasters constantly scrutinising incidents and highlighting errors allied with the availability of social media allowing often ill-informed or ignorant fans to post instant reactions and discontent.