Rugby: Swiss rugby from the viewpoint of the refs

For Jeremy Brown, one of the leading referees in Switzerland, the Swiss A League season to date “has been turbulent for some clubs like Zurich losing their coach, and Nyon; but extremely encouraging for others such as Hermance and Stade Lausanne who are really working with their coaches and are learning real rugby. They’re being taught to think and play,” he says.

“Over the past two years this trend has really picked up after stagnation for five or six years,” according to Brown.

Matt Sandell, another A League ref isn’t so sure. “It’s too early to tell whether the standard is getting better or whether a couple of clubs are just having a good season,” he says.

After the first half, Stade Lausanne lead the standings by three points over Hermance. At the other end of the table Nyon, Bern and CERN will most likely be battling against relegation (one team goes down) come next summer.

Brown has concerns about the form of Nyon. “It’s going to be interesting and there’s going to be a few surprises. CERN have a lot more to show and Bern have played a couple of storming matches. But it would be shame if Nyon goes down.”

“They’re probably the richest club in Switzerland and a division one league without Nyon would be like a Premiership without Tottenham,” he adds. The Nyon squad has lost a number of key French players and is currently engaged in rebuilding.

“Nyon are struggling and it could be a competitive end to the season which is always good,” Sandell says.

“Stade Lausanne were on an up at the end of last season and have continued. They seem to have more depth and have avoided injuries to key players. Geneva PLO [current Swiss champions] were on a bit of a down and have also continued.”

“Zurich have been the surprise package this year in not performing,” he adds. New men at the head of coaching hierarchies at both Zurich and Geneva have yet to stamp their mark at the clubs.

However, it’s Bern that have perhaps made the most difference to their fortunes over the past few months. After being systematically bullied by the other clubs last season and failing to win a single match, they’ve now recorded two victories, one of which was over Geneva.

Brown has also noticed a shift in the Hermance game. “They’re a stylish team now, which didn’t used to be the case,” he says.

Meanwhile it’s unclear why anyone would want to be a referee of any kind – perform well and you’re practically invisible; mess up and you risk the kind of abuse that members of say, The Clash would have been familiar with during the emergence of the punk rock movement in the mid-seventies.

In rugby, the job is even more difficult than in other sports. Prerequisite attributes include fitness, patience, on-the-spot and accurate interpretation of a complex, ever-changing rule book; X-ray vision, Dobermanic policing abilities, ambassadorial skills without the benefit of diplomatic immunity and the resilience of a giant clam.

In Switzerland the situation is, if anything, worse than in more established rugby-playing nations. “I do wish the players here would get on and play rugby and concentrate on their own game,” says Sandell.

“In Swiss rugby, it’s too easy to wind them up. As a ref you’re anywhere from being Mr Policeman to a coach on the field and you have to make that decision immediately.”

“I come from a level from where everyone knows what they’re doing. In Switzerland I have to give everyone more time, so it’s been a little bit frustrating,” he says.

Brown ‘s beer glass is half full. “Before it was just follow the egg. Now there’s less infringements and it’s easier to ref," he says, though a International Rugby Board training camp he held in August for 14 refs in the country might also have something to do with that trend.