World Rugby concerned fans are fuelling ‘trial by social media’ for referees

We know we have the best of the best in our refereeing team,” said Michel Poussau, the France 2023 tournament director. A World Rugby spokesperson added: “The citing window is 36 hours and the citing commissioner has access to 15 or 16 different video angles to review, they get to see absolutely everything. Video highlights posted to World Rugby’s own social media channels have notably taken some time to appear during the start of the Rugby World Cup, mainly due to TV rights-holders having first access to all content to post on their own respective accounts. Meanwhile, most of the referees in France will not be wearing watches – unlike at the 2019 tournament – but World Rugby has refuted suggestions there has been a dispute with match officials and sponsors. The referees chosen to be in charge of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan were however given watches, although that was a one-off given that the partnership between Tudor and World Rugby had just started.