If You're In Millbank House, Prepare For Incoming Fire

YESTERDAY'S announcement of the officiating “third teams” for the three big Guinness PRO 14 matches this weekend: the two semi-finals and the play-off for the final European spot really got Scottish Rugby fans up in arms – and rightly so.

Mikey's in the middle in Dublin

There will be an all SRU team of officials: referee Mike Adamson, assistant referees Lloyd Linton and Keith Allen and TMO Neil Paterson on-duty at Donnybrook for the Leinster v Munster match.

The all-Welsh play-off between Ospreys and Scarlets will be handled by an all-Welsh team. Ben Whitehouse will have the whistle, with Nigel Ownes as AR1, Dan Jones as AR2 and Ian Davies on the television monitors in the broadcast truck.

Unfortunately, Lacey is on-duty at Scotstoun

Friday night's Scotstoun showdown between Warriors and Ulster will have John Lacey in the middle, with Andrew Brace and George Clancy on flag duty, and Ollie Hodges as TMO.

That latter set of appointments almost broke the Scottish Rugby Forum page on Facebook last night, as a whole host of forum members took to social media in protest. Basically, the consensus was, Lacey and Clancy are anti-Glasgow, and the absurdity of having an all-Irish team of officials in charge of an international club match, involving an Irish team, with so-much at stake, is just plain wrong.

My own view is, Clancy has shit on Scottish sides with unfathomably wrong decisions over so many years, I, and I hate to say this, believe he cannot be trusted to officiate in a game involving a Scottish club. It is the worst-possible accusation to throw at any referee, but, I hae ma doots about George's impartiality when a Scottish club is involved. I think he is biased against Scottish teams. That said, I do feel George has had a pretty good season, in fact, by his low standards – a very good season.

I do not hold the same view about Lacey, I simply feel he is incompetent and has been promoted way above his pay grade. He is supposed to be retiring at the end of this season, if this is the case, rugby is the winner from that decision.

But, even if we are wrong, and I accept it is possible, the hundreds of people who expressed feelings ranging from bafflement to downright anger at the Scotstoun appointments, could be wrong. Appointing the Irish refereeing team to cover a game involving an Irish team, I say again: it's just plain wrong.

Surely, common sense said: appoint the Scottish team to either the all-Welsh or all-Irish games, either send the Irish team to Swansea, or keep them at home, and, since there is no Welsh involvement in Glasgow, either send the Welsh team there, or appoint an all-Italian or all-South African, or even a mixed nations team to cover Warriors v Ulster.

The appointment is also unfair on the four Irish officials. Not only will they have the Scots watching with and assessing every decision, looking for bias, they will have the whole of Ulster similarly checking for southern bias against their team. On every level, the decision is wrong, wrong, wrong.

But, what does it say about BT Murrayfield's ability to influence thinking inside the Celtic League offices in Millbank House, Dublin? We have been saying for years, the Irish refereeing “Murphyia” has run rings round Murrayfield on officiating matters. They have inflicted terrible referees, making terrible decisions, such as Lacey and Clancy against us for years – yet Murrayfield has been unable to stop them.

They have shit on Scottish referees from a great height for years too. OK, I accept, this season, our top men – Adamson, Linton, Allen, Ben Blain and TMOs such as Neil Paterson, Charles Samson and big Andy McMenemy have done well, but, I still sense, rather like Scottish athletes in Great Britain teams, Scottish referees have to be exceptional to be considered the equivalent of the Irish guys.

TCD and Co, in talking to the Celtic League, ought to be getting stuck-in and sticking-up for Scotland. Do they?

The official PRO14 website lists 13 “Elite” referees: eight of these top officials are rostered across the three weekend games. If we exclude the unused Irish referees, Frank Murphy and David Wilkinson – there are still three elite referees who are idle: South Africa's Quinton Immelman and Stuart Berry and Italy's Marius Mitrea.

Could they not have been given the whistle and flags at Scotstoun, leaving only a neutral TMO to find? Or, in the interests of fairness – given that Lloyd Linton and Keith Allen, although SRU referees, are originally from Ulster, why not put them on the flags, perhaps with Cumbrian Ben Blain in the middle and a Scottish TMO – that seems fair to me.

There are alternatives to the roster the league has come up with, alternatives more acceptable to the public. Why were these not considered?

Just suppose, as our American cousins say: “Shit happens,” and, let's face it, with Lacey in the middle and Clancy on one flag, there is a high likelihood of shit happening. Even if either or both does make an honest mistake – that phrase so beloved of discussion of refereeing matters in Scotland – the repercussions will be long-lasting.

Really, the PRO14 high heid yins should do the decent thing, and change the refereeing roster, before it comes back to bite their fat arses.

But, let's not be too-negative. Look on the bright side – Peter Wright ought to be terrific entertainment on BBC Shortbread on Friday night.