Is World Rugby racist: Why are all 12 RWC referees white men?

The witch hunt that is currently trained on Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi raises an important question about World Rugby.

All 12 of the referees appointed for the Rugby World Cup are white men and with major questions surrounding the ability of not a few of them one must question why this is the case.

Is World Rugby racist?

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World Rugby appears intent on preserving certain unsavoury elements of the sport.

South Africa is the only one of rugby’s traditional powers to employ black referees in it’s elite competitions but they haven’t been considered for this World Cup.

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The 12 match officials see England disproportionately represented having four referees on a panel of 12 drawn from just seven countries.

The argument that all 12 referees were appointed on merit doesn’t hold any water, considering the shockingly poor performance of several referees before and during the World Cup.

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South Africa can lay claim to producing two high-quality referees who could have added some much-needed diversity to the panel.

Cwengile Jadezweni and Rasta Rasivhenge are world-class officials who would arguably improve the quality of that panel.

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Jadezweni had an excellent URC campaign and is rapidly becoming the best whistle in South Africa.

Rasivhenge is an experienced referee and excellent communicator who seldom puts a foot wrong.

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No transparency and no accountability

World Rugby’s assessment of referees is about as cloak and dagger as it can be and we are forced to take them on their word when they claim the 12 men they appointed for the Rugby World Cup are the best in the world.

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Once a referee is elevated into the upper echelons of officiating structure, it seems that no amount of incompetence can remove them from their place.

World Rugby has shown little interest in being transparent about the processes for evaluating and appointing officials so we can’t say for sure why the entire refereeing panel is made up of white men.

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However, World Rugby needs to do better both in showing fans that officials are held to a standard and held accountable and also in elevating people from marginalised groups who do good work in an environment that has traditionally been unwelcoming.