World Rugby missed an opportunity to correct officiating standards in the game

World Rugby have once again missed the mark with their heavy-handed sentence passed down against SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus in regards to his video criticising the refereeing of Nic Berry during the British & Irish Lions tour in July.

The phrase, don’t shoot the messenger, comes to mind when discussing the Erasmus debacle that has rumbled on for almost five months now, culminating with him being banned from all rugby activities for two months and from match day activities until September next year.

The main talking point which should have emerged from the video should have been centred on the standard of officiating in the world game and the overcomplicated rules and laws that have led to refs making countless errors in matches every week.

The Erasmus video gave World Rugby the perfect opportunity to look in on themselves and clean house.

They were given the perfect platform to address what is becoming a massive problem in the game but, instead, they bottled it.

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They have now taken aim at the wrong whistle-blower, going after the person pointing out the problem, instead of the man in the middle causing the problem.

World Rugby didn’t have to hang Berry out to dry, but they could have just acknowledged that he made errors and could have started a programme to try and help referees get a better understanding of the laws and how to handle big moments in important games.

Instead, they have decided to close ranks. Was Erasmus’ video over the top? Possibly. Should he have been punished? Most likely.

However, it should have been done to a much lesser extent and should have started an important conversation about reffing standards in rugby and the complicated structure of rugby’s laws.

This is now unlikely to happen with the old guard closing rankings and shutting the door.