Joel Who ?

The opening shots have been fired and whilst it was a day of encouragement for England, for Wales it was a day sooner forgotten. But what about the guy in the middle ? How did he fare ? As previously written in these pages, I plan to take a Junior refs’ eyes and assess the performance of our more senior and experienced colleagues over the warm up and actual Rugby World Cup 2007 games.

Back in the mists of time I was fortunate enough to meet Clive Woodward when he was coach at Henley RFC. I reffed a game between Henley 1sts and Rosslyn Park 1sts and although being 0-21 down at half-time, Henley secured a tense and exciting 22-21 victory. After the game I met Clive and as he shook my hand he told me that he had hardly noticed I was out there during the game; arguably one of the best things anybody can tell a Ref after a game. And so it was with Joel Jutge at Twickenham on Saturday. I will declare at this stage that I did not rate Joel at all when he first arrived on the scene at senior level. He spent most of the time looking like a rabbit caught in headlights and the players looking at him in total amazement and/or disbelief. He could not communicate because his English was poor. Not so now and his abilities and numbers of Tests have grown as his command of the English language has flourished.

On Saturday, he had total control of the game but without us hardly knowing he was there.When he did have to make his presence known, he did so effectively and accurately i.e. Foul Play. Apart from that, he left the game to evolve as the dominant English players wanted it to evolve without ignoring the rights and protection due to their Welsh opponents. Another excellent part of his game on Saturday was he had the courage to make a Goal Line decision without the use of the TMO. There are enormous pressures on Referees and TJ’s for the correct decisions to be made at Premiership and International levels but, in my opinion, too many decisions are passed “up stairs” for video analysis. To me, some of the IRB guys are for too quick pass the buck rather than biting the bullet themselves. Will Joel adopt this same attitude in RWC2007 ? Only time will tell but thanks for having the courage of performing the way you did last Saturday.

France @ HQ this weekend and this time I’ll be there to see the game in the flesh without the benefit of commentary or expert analysis. I wonder how this one will pan out ?I’ll let you know next week.

Bon Jour Mon Braves - C'est Mois Again !

Having been inundated by my Fan to make another posting, I am happy to write about my trip to La Rochelle, France. It has wonderful architecture, seafood restaurants, friendly people, picturesque Old Port, lots of dog poo and the old German U-Boat harbour.

The architecture first. The Old Port is surrounded by great old building and this is an example of what can be seen.

The other sights of La Rochelle can also be seen here - from the beautiful poppies, Old Port entry with the fortress towers and the old German U-Boat harbour. This was the site where many a German wolf pack of U-Boats left to sink allied shipping during WW2. It was also the site for the films "DAS BOOT" about a German U-Boat patrol and "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK" when Indianna Jones hitched a ride to the island where the Ark was opened with fatal effect.

Enjoy the sights of La Rochelle - if you get the chance GO THERE - it's great and the weather is always so good. Here endeth the promo.

Rugga

Watch Out - There's a Rugby World Cup about to happen in France !

The countdown to RWC 2007 France, already started in many parts of the Rugby world, will now become even more noticeable, even to non-rugby sports fans as that kick-off time of 20.00 hours BST, September 7th gets nearer and nearer. The gladiators in the Northern Hemisphere are about to embark on a series of so-called warm up games where the National Coaches of the competing teams will finely tune and then finalise their RWC2007 squads. The Southern Hemisphere combatants have done their deeds in Super 14 and Tri-Nations and now pray that their strained and battered bodies will have recovered in time for The Big One.

But there's another side to this major international sporting occasion that is being overlooked or ignored or not even thought about at this stage - the match officials. The guys in the middle who will no doubt upset somebody along the way whether it be Player, Coach or Supporter - or all three. It's always easy to take pot-shots at the Whistler - I know, I am one at Junior level - but nobody but nobody goes out to have a poor game, player or official - but it happens. So let's just spare a thought for the loniest guy in the world when it comes to game time. It's great news that Paddy O'Brien of the IRB Referees Department has issued a directive that Refs will not be permitted to meet with players and coaches before games because in the past, it is undeniable that some have used the media to both wind up their opponents but more importantly, plant a seed of doubt in the Referee's mind about an opponent or opponents and their tactics.

The IRB are basically telling the official to Ref what you see not what you have been told - and that can only be good for the game as a whole. "Spreaders" et al all enjoy a bit of banter during a game and it is essential that there is good communication with the players on the park and an empathy from the Ref for what each side is trying to do. But that's where it ends - mutually respectful communication. Whinging about decisions, providing a running commentary about what opponents are getting away with etc. etc. HAS to be jumped on from a great height. In light of Mr O'Brien's recent comments I strongly suspect it will be.

So, as somebody once said "let the mayhem begin" and let's hope that no matter which side wins RWC 2007, the overall winner is the game itself.

Don't Be Afraid - It's ONLY Friday 13th

I know it's Friday 13th but hey ! I don't plan on walking under any ladders today.

Encouraged by all the nice comments by you lovely blogers out there, I've been looking at some of my older photos to see if there was anything worth posting and I believe I have a few more worth the space on my blog.

One is from a plane. The others were taken during a relaxing walk along the beach in Coral Bay and a park in Perth, WA.

In a quieter part of Coral Bay there is a shark nursery where Reef Sharks breed and teach the "kids" how to go fishing etc. On this particular day there were about 6 adult Reefies and about a dozen young Reefies cruising around and grabbing the odd fish for lunch. They were so timid that if you put a single foot into the water, they would sense it and swim away so if you wanted them to come close you have to keep low and on the beach. My wife Linda and I watched these guys for quite a while until a couple started to move very close to where we were crouched down. They were getting closer and closer so I decided to take a chance and see if I could get a shot. I was going to be difficult because the sun was bright and there was a lot of glare coming off the water - and no polarized filter attached to my camera. As the adult Reefie got closer and closer I started tracking him/her in the viewfinder and just when I thought I was going to get the best shot - "click".

At the exact moment I heard a splash but didn't see anything with my own eyes because whatever had caused the splash was long gone.


It was only when I got back to our room with a lot more shade etc. than the beach did I see what I had actually captured with the camera and what had caused the splash. One of the sharks had tried to grab another fish for dinner but the fish had leapt out of the water as the shark struck. The picture you see is the result. It could quite easily be called "the one that got away".

The other beach shot is a jelly fish called a Spanish Dancer. It had become temporarily stranded on the sand by a large wave. Not long after I took the shot, it was back in the ocean again where it belongs.

The shot below is the bark of a Gum Tree that I took in a public park in Perth, WA. I thought the patterns and colours of the bark were beautiful. Hope you agree.

The last shot is another Aerial shot somewhere over Australia. It reminds me of a snake crossing the desert.

Well, tomorrow I will be Reffing my last game of the season. It's a game the home team MUST win to avoid relation from their league. The only thing in their favour is that they are playing at home. The major dis-advantage is they are playing the team that won that league and have already gained promotion to the next league level up. Could be a tough one but, from my point of view, makes it much more interesting. I think the weather will be a factor also. As we edge our way into Spring (at last) the weather is getting warmer. Last weekend it was sunny but only 12C-14C. Tomorrow the forecast is sunny again but and expected high of around 24C (about 76F). Will definately need a cold beer after that.

Fingers Crossed for the Photo Competition

Time to update - Saw a photograph competition on fuelmyblog.com where the subject had to have been shot through a window but you could interpret "through the window" virtually anyway you wanted. Well, seeing all my aerial shots were shot through a window of a Fokker 50 airplane, time to take a punt and enter - but which one ? In the end I decided on the image you see. I still think it looks more like an oil painting than a photograph but a photo it truly is, shot high above Cashens Well, Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia. Some of my other shots also look more like oil paintings than photos and I hope that somebody else sees this too. It would great if I could find somebody who appreciates these particular images as I do - and is not a friend or relative, who all think they're great. Fingers crossed for the competition. Why is the World so beautiful from the sky if we were not meant to see it ?

To all you lovely people who have posted encouraging comments about my pictures - THANK YOU. Many have asked for more pictures so here's a few more.

Hope you like these too. Keep the comments coming - good or bad I want to see them.

Time to add a few more images for you to love or hate -you tell me !