Referees are expected to be accurate and fair. When they need assurances, they can send things 'upstairs' for technological assessment and assistance. Despite this, errors can be made and viewers; players and pundits can become frustrated and lose their minds over it.
Two matches tok place to proof this case.
Victor Matfield and John Kirwan clashed over the decisions and officiating during the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry decider between the Springboks and All Blacks on Saturday.
The former Bok and ex-All Black spoke on the Rugby Rivals podcast, after South Africa beat New Zealand to win the series 3-1; with the two particularly discussing the performance of referee Karl Dickson at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.
"Let’s try and be objective about this," Kirwan said. "Why would you put a northern hemisphere ref in charge of a southern hemisphere game?"
"Forget the results – you guys deserve to win. Across the series you were the better side. It came down to the wire. But this ref has the ability to just make the game pedantic."
Matfield replied: "I thought he didn’t want to make calls. I don’t know if you’d say 'pedantic' – I thought there were quite a few turnovers at breakdown time where he didn’t want to give them to us. There was one where Deon [Fourie] definitely had it, where you guys got the penalty."
"In some circumstances, the earpiece that didn’t work slowed him down, and then there were quite a few injuries, quite a few blood injuries, so that just slowed it down."
"But I thought all the decisions they made with the TMO were spot on, 100%"
Kirwan agreed with Matfield on the spirit in which the series was played but harped on about breakdown officiating and fairness.
"I totally agree with Victor about the game, about the love we have for each other and the boys praying. I think it’s amazing. But the refs make a massive difference and they need to get better."
"For example, I thought that South Africa at the breakdown were really, really on the limit. They never released the player. They stuck onto the player and they slowed the ball down, and the ref let them do it."
"Now, if the referee’s any good, in the first five minutes he penalises that and no one does it. But he waited until the last five minutes to penalise for coming in on the lineout too close, and for hanging on to the player and not releasing him in the tackle."
"What frustrates me is that it changes the game for everybody, so it doesn’t make it a fair contest."
Matfield noted teams just need to do their homework on the on-day referee.
"I can remember when we played, whenever you had Nigel Owens as a referee, he just wanted to let the game go. He’s not going to blow."
"I also think you need to look at the referees, analyse them, know what their strengths are, know how they want to blow the game, and you have to adapt to that."
Sir John Kirwan has hit out at the officiating; pinpointing the decision to allow Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try as a key point in the match.
The All Blacks legend spent the first nine minutes of the Rivals podcast moaning about the officiating in Saturday’s US clash; with the 61-year-old particularly frustrated that Cameron Hanekom was not penalised.
Looking to get back into the contest at 29-21 in arrears, New Zealand put together a spellbinding attack which sent Damian McKenzie through. The full-back had two options either side of him – Josh Moorby and Will Jordan – but he chose the latter where Hanekom was lurking.
It was deemed by the officials that the tackle made by the Springboks replacement and Moorby receiving the ball was simultaneous. The wing also tripped up prior to the hit but that was deemed accidental and, as a result, Arendse was able to collect the ball; run 70 metres and touch down to open up a 36-21 lead for his side.
"I thought it was an amazing series, I thought it was fantastic for rugby, both sides gave everything and it was incredible," Kirwan said. "[But] what frustrated me was the refereeing, there’s just something about the way he refs, you can’t get any rhythm."
"I thought a couple of decisions went against us. That early tackle and that leg trip is definitely a penalty and definitely a yellow card. I thought the rhythm of the game was falling our way, I thought we’re going to come back like the first Test, I thought the Springboks were out on their feet."
"Leg trip and an early tackle, he looks at it three times. If you’re a New Zealander, you look at it and go, ‘that’s an early tackle and a trip every day of the week’. He looks at it and it’s a 14-point turnaround, for me that was the game there, so that was frustrating."
South Africa ended up claiming a 43-28 triumph over the All Blacks on Saturday as they sealed a 3-1 series triumph after initially going 1-0 down in Johannesburg.
Rassie Erasmus’ men won three Tests in a row and Kirwan did admit that the back-to-back world champions were the better team throughout.
"Retrospectively, I think the Springboks deserved to win the series in the end, I think that we made too many critical errors at the wrong time, we need to go away and look at that," he said.
"There were some silly penalties at critical times, Tupou Vaa’i holding on a bit too long when we were putting them under pressure, so we just let the game slip a wee bit, but that doesn’t take away from what a great series it was."
All Blacks assistant Neil Barnes believes that they are "seriously close" to the Springboks after a final 3-1 series result in the Greatest Rivalry Series in Baltimore.
The Springboks lead 17-14 at half-time and had a 29-21 lead with 10 minutes remaining before a big decision on a tackle on Josh Moorby led to a try to Kurt-Lee Arendse.
South Africa secured the win with a 43-28 victory after a last minute try to Beauden Barrett reduced the final score. Speaking with Jason Pine in the aftermath, Barnes shared his thoughts on the final Test and the series.
"For anybody that understands the game, not very far at all," Barnes told Jason Pine on Newstalk ZB when asked about the gap between the two teams.
"To be fair, I’ve got a Bud Light sitting in my hand at the moment that I’m chewing through, so obviously disappointed. But the more I reflect, the more I know we’re seriously close to them."
"Probably just not getting the rub of the green, or getting a lot of luck in close moments at the moment. They’re probably, you’re fair to say the better team tonight."
"But holy hecka, like there’s a couple of moments of swinging with about 20 minutes to go, where two or three times in a row we come out on the wrong side of a close call."
When asked to elaborate on whether it’s officiating decisions or match moments, Barnes said it’s both but revealed that interference from the host broadcaster, in this case SuperSport, that plays a role in dictating how calls are made.
He said that the two-tiered approach by the South African broadcaster continued to show replays that favoured South Africa and even provide different video to the match officials that wasn’t asked for.
"Sometimes you know you get a bounce or something like that but yeah, there’s definitely a couple of decisions in there that could have gone either way," he said.
"You have to put up with the screens when the South Africans are running things that are showing things entirely different to what the referees asked for, and the referees see it and go back to it. But you don’t get the same luxury when something is on the other side of the coin."
"But for us, we can only control what we control, can’t control, and yeah, there’s things that we can do to be better. But like I said right at the start, there’s not much in this at the moment."
Barnes credited South Africa with playing with more enterprise in the final Test which led to a "good game of rugby" while he believed the All Blacks improved at set-piece time.
"I thought we made a big shift in our set piece tonight compared to what happened last week, so that was good," he said.
"But at the end of the day, they actually played with some freedom tonight because they were one up in the series, so they couldn’t lose it. And good on them, I thought it was a good game of rugby."
"We’ve got to be in a position where we can actually control the game for longer with the speed of it, fatigue them more. But every time they keep getting penalties for bugger all and get to slow the game down, it brings them back into it."
Turning to football and The Premier League refereeing body, Pro Ref has admitted an "error of judgement" in awarding Erling Haaland's Manchester City winner against Manchester United.
As City celebrated a remarkable derby victory over Manchester United, there were questions as to whether Haaland's winning goal should have stood in a match fraught with controversy.
The striker scored in the 60th minute at Old Trafford, turning home at the back post from Josko Gvardiol's cross before it was disallowed on the field for offside.
Following intervention from the video assistant referee, the goal was awarded - the Norwegian ruled to have been played onside by Patrick Dorgu's boot But there was debate as to whether the offside Enzo Fernandez, diving at the ball in a more central position than Haaland, was interfering with play.
In a statement, Pro Ref said: "It was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offence subjective."
"However, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review. Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement. A review of the incident will take place."
United defender, Lisandro Martinez, said it was an "injustice" while boss Michael Carrick said he was "confused" by the decision.
The goal came after City had gone down to 10 men in the first half when Phil Foden was shown a straight red card for kicking out at United captain Bruno Fernandes.
Foden was dismissed by referee Michael Oliver on 23 minutes after kicking the midriff of Fernandes while he was on the turf.
When Haaland's goal was ruled out as offside on the field, few questioned the decision as the City striker looked to have drifted beyond United's defensive line.
The lines drawn by the VAR showed Haaland to be onside thanks to Dorgu's boot. It was the positioning and involvement of Fernandez that left many pundits astounded and unsure if it was a legitimate goal.
Gvardiol's cross took a slight deflection off the boot of Dorgu before finding its way to Haaland at the back post; while Fernandez was clearly attempting a diving header in the middle of the six-yard box but he didn't touch the ball.
Fernandez appeared to be in an offside position, ahead of Dorgu's boot but VAR deemed it to be a legitimate goal as he didn't touch the ball while United defender Martinez was also closing in.
The Premier League Match Centre said on X: "VAR checked the referee's call of no goal for offside - and determined that Haaland was in an onside position and recommended that the goal was awarded.
"The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn't play the ball."
Matt Donohue and assistant VAR Blake Antrobus have been stood down from Premier League duty following the controversial decision to allow Erling Haaland’s winning goal in Manchester City’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
The two officials weren't selected for any of next weekend’s Premier League fixtures after Pro Ref, the Professional Game Referees body formerly known as PGMOL, acknowledged that the VAR process had failed during Sunday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.
Chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb and the Pro Ref management team made the decision, with Donohue and Antrobus not expected to return to Premier League duties until at least after the upcoming international break.
The controversy centered on City’s 60th-minute winner, scored while Pep Guardiola’s side were down to 10 men following Phil Foden’s first-half red card for violent conduct.
Haaland finished at the back post from a Joško Gvardiol cross that had deflected off United defender Patrick Dorgu. Assistant referee Stuart Burt initially flagged Haaland for offside, and referee Michael Oliver upheld the decision.
VAR Donohue and assistant VAR Antrobus then conducted a lengthy review using semi-automated offside technology. The review correctly determined that Haaland was onside, with Dorgu’s boot keeping the Norwegian forward in play.
The officials, however, also had to assess the position of City midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who was standing in an offside position closer to the center of the penalty area.
Fernandez attempted to head the ball but did not make contact. His movement nevertheless drew United defender Lisandro Martínez toward him and affected the positioning of goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
Pro Ref later acknowledged that the VAR team should have considered whether Fernandez had interfered with an opponent and recommended that Oliver conduct an on-field review.
"Did not recognise the likely impact of his position" was how Pro Ref characterised the error; adding that the VAR should have sent the decision back to the referee for further assessment.
The governing body contacted Manchester United that evening to acknowledge what it described as an “error of judgement” and announced a formal review of the incident.
Premier League Match Centre messaging during the match had explained that Haaland was onside and that Fernandez, despite being offside, had not played the ball. The subsequent review, however, focused on whether Fernandez’s movement had affected United players rather than simply whether he touched the ball.
The distinction proved crucial. While the factual offside determination involving Haaland was correct, the subjective assessment of Fernandez’s potential interference was not properly escalated to the referee for a pitchside review.
The decision has drawn strong criticism from United, with manager Michael Carrick and Martínez both questioning the call after the match. Carrick described the incident as "worrying" and said it was "as obvious as it gets."
Donohue has extensive experience as a VAR and made dozens of appointments in the 2025-26 season, although he has had comparatively limited experience as a Premier League referee on the field. Antrobus has also regularly worked in the VAR system.
Their removal from the next round of fixtures reflects the established approach of the refereeing authorities when significant process failures occur in high-profile matches.
Despite the controversy, the goal stood and City secured a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford. The result left them level on points with Arsenal at the top of the early Premier League standings.
Despite their best efforts, referee calls will always be subjective. There will never be happy endings for both teams. One is bound to be upset at the end. Everyone will have to move on from the decisions and look to the future for better performances and results.