"It's part of the game": Florian Grill on refereeing at the Rugby World Cup

Gauthier Delomez 17:30 p.m., October 29, 2023

Are the French angry with the refereeing, since the defeat of the XV of France against South Africa in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup? Many fans of Les Bleus are struggling to digest this match, which hastened the premature end of Fabien Galthié's men's adventure in their competition. "Of course I understand the frustration, just as I understand it when you make a forward kick, when you unscrew a kick or when you concede a try," Florian Grill, president of the French Rugby Federation, said, referring to some of the game's actions.

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Exceptional guest of the show The studio of legends, the day after the title won by the Springboks against the All Blacks, the boss of French rugby explains to the microphone of Europe 1 that all these elements are "part of the game. You have to look at the big picture."

A "pedagogical work" to be undertaken on the rules

Florian Grill rejects "videos where we only put refereeing mistakes. What you have to do is watch a match in its entirety and question the coherence of the match, what was positive or negative," he said, recalling that "everyone makes mistakes: the referees, the players". "We're not going to pillory a player who makes a forward or unscrews a kick. We need respect, which is the cardinal value of rugby," said the FFR president.

Is there a need for more clarity in the rules for spectators and television viewers, in order to better understand the sometimes complex game actions of this sport? This is what Florian Grill defends at the microphone of Jacques Vendroux. "I was talking about it with World Rugby (rugby's international body, editor's note). In France, we put little videos that explain the faults on the giant screens, and there was no that during this World Cup. This is one of the things that World Rugby needs to improve on, and where France needs to give its experience. We need to have an educational role vis-à-vis the public to explain the decisions taken on the ground."

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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.