Sevens referees boosted by new coach

Story and Photo: www.irbsevens.com

Ahead of the 2011/12 HSBC Sevens World Series the IRB have appointed a new Sevens Referee coach to work alongside the Sevens Referee manager.

Scott Young is a new appointment for this season, in addition to Steve Lander who has replaced Keith Lawrence as the Referee manager. 

With a focus on driving up standards on the road to 2016 and to have dedicated Sevens referees, Young is welcoming his opportunity to develop the level of standards on the Series. 

"It is fantastic, a really great opportunity for me with Sevens being a key code around the world and going to the Olympics," said Young, a former Sevens referee himself.

"We have the Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games over the next few years so to be back involved is a great opportunity."

Young will be coaching and mentoring the referees on an individual basis with a view to taking them to the next level, making them understand Sevens better and increasing their fitness, which is a key aspect of the Game and one of the main differences between officiating 15s.

Olympic goal for referees

"Sevens is a much faster game than 15s, the ball in play is far greater," added Young.

"The crucial area is the breakdown, in the same way as 15s, but because the breakdown happens so much quicker in Sevens the referee decision making process has to be a lot quicker.

"To actually make those decisions, getting to the breakdown is the crucial thing, so not only the fitness but also the speed is also a crucial issue for our referees."

The aim is to reach Rio de Janiero with eight referees all capable of officiating the Olympic Cup final, and competing for that honour.

"With the fact that Sevens is going to the Olympics adds more presure to the referees, they are in the spotlight more," explained Young.

"It is natural that the decisions they make are going to be contestable and the coaches are going to be looking more and more at them, especially with me in my role now they will be expecting the standard to improve.

"Sevens is now a pressured environment and these coaches and players are professional, many with a solid sevens programme in their unions, so it is only natural we follow suit from a refereeing perspective."