Due to the large number of spectators watching games, players can't get away with cheating these days. Photo: Getty Images/Harry Trump
I'm standing on a Premier League rugby ground on match day, waiting for the citation commissioner to arrive — and he's late. Is this offense likely to result in a red card?
Given that the commissioner in question has been accommodating enough to give Telegraph Sport exclusive access to the inner workings of the Premier League's disciplinary processes, probably not. In addition, the decision is made by the commissioner himself.
With just over an hour left until kick-off, I'm here to take a behind-the-scenes look at the role of citation commissioners — almost the only department in rugby. off-field officials on game day who have not been tested in the past two weeks.
These are 22 officials, all part-time employees of the Rugby Football Union, scattered across the country, who are paid to watch Premiership, Championship and Premiership Women's Rugby matches every weekend and highlight everything unfavorable in the post-match report. Some are former players, some come from other unions (there is now a Hungarian officer) and some also carry out duties in European competitions, but all share a keen eye for unfair play.
“After my playing days, if I had a pound for every time someone said: “a poacher has become a gamekeeper,” the commissioner who arrived today told Telegraph Sport. “There are several former players. I love it. This allows me to stay on top of the game. I end up meeting a lot of friends.”
However, before being polite among friends, you should start a business. The first stop is the TV truck, where the Commissioner hands over a USB drive to one of the TV station's technicians. It is this stick and the soon to be created WhatsApp group that revolves around the entire process. During today's match, the citation commissioner will be observing along with the official timekeeper on the press portal and when he notices an incident that requires further attention, he will note the time of the match and the place on the field where the incident occurred and ask the broadcaster technician to save all camera angles as clips on your USB drive. Then, from the comfort of his own home, the commissioner will be able to make an informed decision about whether the player is worth mentioning.
As kick-off approached, it was time to meet and greet the respective team managers in the tunnel. A less experienced commissioner may have to introduce himself, but not this particular officer, whom everyone seems to know. “I hope they genuinely like me!” the officer says when I ask if they are just being sociable because of his status as a commissioner. “If I quote someone, then maybe not.”
The Commissioner reminds the managers of the two teams that they can report any problems to him after the match. The deadline for submitting requests from clubs is 12 hours, and the commissioner is given another 12 hours for consideration. As an example of how the commissioner's duties have been lightened, this particular officer cited only one player in the last two years; The last time the Premier League mentioned an incident missed by on-field officials was almost a year ago (Ellis Genge's lunge on Tom Curry in April 2023).
Ellis Genge's fight against Tom Curry in April 2023 was a crime worthy of accountability. Photo: Getty Images/Dan Mullan
“Howler monkeys don’t happen very often,” the commissioner says. “There are so many different levels now with judges, assistants and TMOs. To be honest, we're more of a safety net. The only other case is if the referees on the field decide something is a yellow card and we look at it and think: «Hmm, that's a little worse.» It needs updating.» If it's straight red, we don't interfere, it's automatically resolved. All we have to do is sort through the clips and send them to David [Barnes, head of discipline at the RFU], because they'll have to write a report. We only get involved if it's a penalty or a yellow card that deserves a red.
It used to be gouging, punching; you name it, it went on. Now these are high tackles, tackles. There are too many cameras for anything else to be hidden.
“I have been working as a citation commissioner for 10 years. Before that, I was on the panel of judges. The citation officers sent naughty boys to us, and then they asked me if I wanted to become a citation officer. I just finished the game and jumped at the chance.”
Having completed our pre-match preparations, we head up to the press portal. For dinner, a pack of nuts and a bag of mint flakes are enough, and in the midst of a match, handbags flash on the field. The Commissioner's attention is drawn and the binoculars are raised. “Nobody is going to throw punches,” he says, almost egging the players on. “They know very well that they will get into trouble!”
At the end of the first half, the commissioner writes in his NFP notebook: “No foul play.” If there were, he explains, he would have waited until halftime to post them in the WhatsApp group. After all, his full attention has to be on the match while it's happening.
“We have something called the pink card test,” he says. “We are monitoring everything that could lead to a yellow card turning into a red card. That's the simplest way to describe it.
“I record every instance of foul play. You won't argue about deliberately hitting or destroying the pier, but it's not fair play. It's about injury — what we look at — and the level of danger. A deliberate attack is not dangerous; breakage of the pier can happen, but it's always not the case.
“High tackles and another thing that gradually penetrates, people attack the lower limb. Disagreement… if a player tells the referee to «fuck off», you can hope that it will be dealt with immediately, but if this does not happen, then it becomes my responsibility.»
It's also not a friendly «boys' job» thing. Barnes told Telegraph Sport that accountability was one of the main reasons for paying citation officers, although removing officers from the list is «very rare».
“It's often not always about the decision, but rather the rationale behind it,” says the former Bath prop. “Most of them are pretty good and do exactly what we ask.
“And it works both ways. Quote Commissioners love going to games, so we have kept them in-person, whereas at World Rugby, for international players, Quote Officers work entirely remotely.”
The Commissioner adds: “There is a responsibility of 100 people.” . cent. If you don't do your job well and don't get your things together, then you either don't get a game or you get demoted down to the Championship or women's matches.
“If there's anything controversial that you're not sure about, we discuss this in whatsapp group. Probably about 90 percent of us are always singing from the same songbook.”
The songbook for this match, as at halftime, is singing “NFP.” All that remains is to contact the two team managers, who have nothing to add in this case, before walking past the broadcast booth to collect that precious USB drive and heading out into the night with 24 hours to submit the message. match report, which, as always, will be completely empty.
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