“It’s part of the game”: Florian Grill looks back on refereeing at the Rugby World Cup

Are the French angry with refereeing since the defeat of the French XV against South Africa in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup? Many Blues fans are struggling to digest this meeting, which precipitated the premature end of the adventure of Fabien Galthié’s men in their competition. “Of course I understand the frustration, just as I understand it when we make a forward move, when we unscrew a kick or when we take a try,” puts Florian Grill, president of the French Rugby Federation, into perspective. in reference to certain actions of the match.

Exceptional guest of the show The studio of legendsthe day after the title won by the Springboks against the All Blacks, the boss of French rugby explains at the microphone of Europe 1 that all these elements are “part of the game. We have to look at things globally”.

“Educational work” to be undertaken on the rules

Florian Grill rejects “videos where only refereeing faults are shown. What you need to do is watch a match in its entirety and question the coherence of the match, what there was positive or negative”, he believes, recalling that “everyone makes mistakes: the referees, the players”. “We are not going to pillory a player who makes a forward move or who unscrews a kick. We need respect, which is the cardinal value of rugby,” supports the president of the FFR.

Is there then a need for greater clarity in the rules for spectators and television viewers, in order to better understand the sometimes complex playing actions of this sport? This is what Florian Grill defends at Jacques Vendroux’s microphone. “I spoke about it with World Rugby (the international rugby body, editor’s note). In France, we put small videos which explain the fouls on the giant screens, and there was not that during this World Cup This is one of the things on which World Rugby must progress, and where France must give its experience. We need to have an educational role vis-à-vis the public to explain the decisions taken on the field.”

So that France can help develop this “pedagogical work”, Florian Grill wants “that there is a Frenchman in each of the commissions (of World Rugby), and French people who are there to work”, insists the president of the FFR on Europe 1.