Behind the scenes with a rugby citing commissioner

Standing on the concourse of a Premiership rugby ground on match day, awaiting the arrival of the citing commissioner – and he is late. Is that an offence worthy of a red card?

Given that the commissioner in question has been hospitable enough to grant Telegraph Sport exclusive access to the inner workings of the Premiership’s disciplinary processes, probably not. Besides, it is the commissioner himself who decides.

With kick-off just over an hour away, I am here to take a look behind the curtain at the role of citing commissioners – about the only subsection of rugby’s off-field, match-day officials who have not come in for scrutiny over the past fortnight.

These are 22 officials, all part-time employees of the Rugby Football Union, scattered around the country, who are paid to watch Premiership, Championship and Premiership Women’s Rugby matches every weekend and highlight anything untoward in a post-match report. Some are ex-players, some come in from other unions – there is a Hungarian officer currently – and some carry out duties in European competitions, too, but all are united by a keen eye for foul play.

“After my playing days, if I had a pound for every time someone said ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’,” today’s commissioner, having arrived, tells Telegraph Sport. “There are a few ex-players. I absolutely love it. It keeps me involved in the top end of the game. I end up bumping into loads of mates.”

Before the pleasantries among friends, however, business must commence. First stop, the television truck, where the commissioner drops off a USB stick to one of the broadcaster’s technicians. It is this stick and a soon-to-be-created WhatsApp group around which the entire process revolves. During today’s match, the citing commissioner will spectate alongside the official timekeeper in the press gantry, and when he spots an incident that requires further attention, he will note the time in the match and where on the pitch the incident took place, and ask the broadcaster’s technician to save all the angles as clips on his USB stick. Then, from the comfort of his own home, the commissioner will be able to come to a considered judgement on whether to cite a player.

As kick-off approaches, it is time to meet and greet the respective team managers in the tunnel. A less experienced commissioner might have to introduce himself, but not this particular officer, who is seemingly known by all and sundry. “Hopefully, they genuinely like me!” the officer says, when I ask if they are just being convivial because of his commissioner status. “If I cite someone, maybe not.”

The commissioner reminds the two team managers that they can flag any issues to him after the match. The deadline for referrals from clubs is 12 hours, with the commissioner given a further 12 to cite. For a snapshot into how the duties of a commissioner have eased, this particular officer has cited just one player in the past two years; the last citing in the Premiership for an incident missed by the on-field officials came nearly a year ago (an Ellis Genge tackle on Tom Curry in April 2023).

“Howlers don’t happen very often,” the commissioner says. “There are so many different levels now with the referees, the assistants and the TMO. We’re more of a safety net, to be honest. The only other time is if the on-field officials decide that something is a yellow card and we look at it and think, ‘Hmm, it’s a bit worse than that. It needs upgrading’. If it’s straight red, we don’t get involved, that gets automatically dealt with. All we have to do is sort the clips out to send to David [Barnes, RFU head of discipline] because they’ll have to write up a report. We only get involved if it’s a penalty or a yellow that deserves a red.

“It used to be gouging, punching; you name it, it went on. Now, it’s high tackles, tip tackles. There are too many cameras to get away with anything else.

“I’ve been a citing commissioner for 10 years. Beforehand, I was on the judicial panel. The citing officers used to send the naughty boys to us and then I was asked if I’d like to become a citing officer. I’d just packed up playing so I jumped at the chance.”

With the pre-match preparation complete, we ascend to the press gantry. A packet of nuts and a bag of mint humbugs suffice for dinner and with the match in full swing handbags erupt on the field. The commissioner’s attention is caught and the binoculars are raised. “No one is going to throw a punch,” he says, almost egging the players on. “They know damn well they’re going to get into trouble!”

At the end of the first half, the commissioner scribbles “NFP” into his notebook: No foul play. Had there been any, he explains, he would have waited until half-time to put it into the WhatsApp group. After all, his undiluted focus needs to be on the match while it is taking place.

“We have something called the ‘pink card test’,” he says. “We are on the lookout for anything that’s a yellow card going up to a red. That’s the easiest way to describe it.

“I write down every foul play incident. You wouldn’t cite a deliberate knock-on or a collapsed maul but they are foul play. It’s about causing injury – which we do look at – and we look at the level of danger. A deliberate knock-on is not dangerous; collapsing a maul could be, but invariably isn’t.

“High tackles and the other thing which has been creeping in, people attacking the lower limb. Dissent... if a player tells a referee to ‘f--- off’ then you’d hope that it was dealt with there and then but if it wasn’t then it would come under my remit.”

This is not a chummy, jobs-for-the-boys affair, either. Barnes told Telegraph Sport that accountability was one of the principal reasons for paying their citing officers, although having officers delisted is “very rare”.

“Often, it is not always about the decision, but more offering a rational explanation of it,” the former Bath prop says. “Most are pretty good and do exactly what we ask.

“And that works both ways. The citing commissioners like going to games so we have kept their roles in-person, whereas World Rugby, for internationals, have citing officers working completely remotely.”

The commissioner adds: “There is accountability – 100 per cent. If you’re not doing your job properly and you don’t pick stuff up then you either don’t get given games, or you get dropped down a level to the Championship or women’s matches.

“If there’s something a bit controversial where you’re not sure, we discuss it in a WhatsApp group. We’re probably about 90 per cent always singing from the same songsheet.”

The songsheet for this match, just as it did at half-time, sings “NFP”. All that remains is to check in with the two team managers – who, on this occasion, have nothing to add – before swinging past the broadcast cabin to collect that precious USB and heading off into the night, with 24 hours to file a post-match report which will be quite bare – as ever.