England have engaged the services of international referee Christophe Ridley to consult on officiating matters and improve their discipline in the Six Nations, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
Ridley, a current Six Nations official who oversaw Ireland’s victory over Wales, has been attending training at Pennyhill Park twice a week and advising the squad on current officiating trends.
Referees working in international environments is not a new concept - former referees Jaco Peyper and Jérôme Garcès are both full-time on the staff with South Africa and France respectively - but it is rare for an active referee to be working in camp. Now, England have someone who attends referees’ meetings with World Rugby and who knows all the up-to-date trends of elite officiating.
The move has been spearheaded by Steve Borthwick and his coaches in an effort to improve England’s discipline. Previously, the Rugby Football Union has provided officials to advise the England team - and referee training sessions - on rotation but they have traditionally been quite hands-off. Ridley’s regular involvement has paid dividends, too, with England’s discipline among the best in the championship so far this Six Nations.
It is understood that Ridley updates the squad at the start of each training week at Pennyhill Park, having reviewed England’s match the previous weekend. The 31-year-old will outline and assess incidents in the game where England have forced the match official to make a judgment call in ambiguous moments. More often than not it is penalties which England did not give away which attracts the greatest focus, rather than the ones that they did.
Ridley, who has been refereeing all training and scrummaging sessions in camp, challenges players on moments in matches where they have been putting pressure on referees to make a judgment call; moments where England might have been legal, but they also might not have been, where they are compelling referees into making a judgment call. The aim is to ensure that they are evidently legal so that they do not compel referees into making a 50/50 call which might go against them.
“Why be a millimetre onside when you can be an inch?” one source said. “It makes no difference. This is how you stop giving away cheap penalties.”
It is also understood that Ridley has been informally supporting Maro Itoje, in his first Six Nations as captain, on how best to interact with each of England’s five officials in the championship.
The regularity of Ridley’s visits increased after England’s pre-Six Nations training camp in Girona. In the wins against France and Scotland - both one-point victories - Borthwick has been under no illusions on the importance of discipline and referee management, with the wins ultimately keeping England’s championship hopes alive. Against both, the losing side was penalised more frequently.
“In a game like that [winning the penalty count] is essential,” Borthwick said. “In a game like that when the ball is in the middle of the field and both teams are trying to find an avenue to open up and get access into the opposition 22 you need to minimise that by discipline. We have won the penalty count in two of the three games in the Six Nations and we won the count in three of the four games in the autumn series. Discipline is strong and it is seriously led by the captain. There are areas we want to improve and we need to against a team like Italy. They are a team not dissimilar to [Scotland]; they kick the ball, have low phase count and kick a lot of contestable kicks which means discipline is crucial.”
At time of writing, England have the second best average penalties per game tally in the Six Nations; better than championship leaders Ireland. Against France, England did not concede a single penalty in a decisive final quarter, where a late Elliot Daly try sealed victory; against Scotland, Finn Russell did not have one penalty attempt at goal.
Ridley is not due to take charge of another match in this Six Nations, but he will be one of the assistant referees in the potentially title-deciding showdown between Ireland and France.
