My job is to persuade people to toe the line and play within the laws of the game.
ALAN LEWISMy job is to persuade people to toe the line and play within the laws of the game.
ALAN LEWISIt is a question of how I marry them up to try to get the players around to my way of thinking.
ALAN LEWISThe objective of a referee is not to get mentioned. I tell a lot of young referees that not being mentioned is king.
ALAN LEWISIf things like that are going to ruffle your feathers, don’t bother doing the job.
ALAN LEWISIt is a question of sometimes choosing what is – in your own mind – of material importance and what isn’t, what might be a crucial potential penalty and what might not be.
ALAN LEWISI have three tools at my disposal – my whistle, my body language and my talk.
ALAN LEWISIf you can achieve that, that then it has been a pretty good game.
ALAN LEWISBut then southern hemisphere teams are more skilful than their northern hemisphere counterparts, which means games can be easier to referee.
ALAN LEWISCoaches do so much research about a referee because they believe refereeing is such a crucial part of the game that the result may hinge on what we say or do.
ALAN LEWISThe scrum and the tackle are the two really contentious areas of the game.
ALAN LEWISI will know some of the personalities, the players who could be difficult customers in a scrum situation.
ALAN LEWISIt’s up to us to make sure we’re listening to improve our chances for success-if not this time, next time.
ALAN LEWISI could give 48 penalties in every match if I wanted to.
ALAN LEWISThe ones I am going to have to really work hard on early in the game to get what I want.
ALAN LEWISI do my own analysis on the teams I am refereeing.
ALAN LEWISThey probably know more about me than I know myself!
ALAN LEWIS