It seems like refereeing culture in rugby is superior in just about every respect to refereeing culture in football. Rugby players have a near-absolute respect for the ref’s calls, while football players dissimulate, shout abuse and physically intimidate referees in just about every game.

I put this down to rugby having such strong roots in amateur sport, where football, being professional, made star players and managers so powerful that they gained a kind of impunity and began to pressure refs simply because they could and it served them.

What stops the PGMOL or FIFA referees worldwide from straight-up carding players for disrespect, or what makes their organisations so spineless and shit, though, I just don’t know.

Thank you!

Is it possible to see the highlights somewhere?