Today, we're joined by Jonny Cartwright, who you may know as The_Bald_Ref on Instagram. He's just been recognised as Loosehead Of the Year 2025 at the Looseheadz Community Awards.

We talk about:

• Jonny's journey from coach to referee
• How he develops referees in his role as T&D lead in Manchester & District Referees (MADRefs)
• How Looseheadz is and how he got into supporting them (trigger warning)
• #WaffleWednesday
• His officiating at the World Record rugby matches in Ireland earlier in 2025
• How he got into trouble for calling out clubs on Instagram when they fail to respect referees
• The effect that has on referee resilience and mental health of match officials

Resources & Links:

• Jonny on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/the_bald_ref/
• LooseHeadz: https://looseheadz.co.uk/
• LH help and support: https://looseheadz.co.uk/help-and-support/
• Previous episodes covering mental health and resilience subjects in rugby and refereeing - Nick Marshall and Tim Wyatt

If you have any comments about this episode, or suggestions for future shows, then drop me a line at ref@rugbyreferee.net!

You can follow us here:

Instagram: RugbyRefereenet

Facebook: Page: RugbyReferee.net

Facebook Group: RugbyReferee.net Community

Or you can connect with Keith personally on Twitter or LinkedIn

Hi, it's Keith here and after numerous prods from you, dear listeners, it was time to get the recording device out once again.

Bit of a catch up on a few things in today's episode:

• Women's RWC match officiating
• Refereeing a foul play scenario after a try
• Charging down a Try Line Drop out
• Refereeing the new open play pod lift
• A tricky situation for me with a piece of player equipment

Relevant links:

RugbyReferee.net Open play pod lift article

World Rugby approved devices list

Rezon Halos - may well be a great product but not approved for use in matches yet - see their FAQ page

If you have any comments about this episode, or suggestions for future shows, then drop me a line at ref@rugbyreferee.net!

You can follow us here:

Instagram: RugbyRefereenet

Facebook: Page: RugbyReferee.net

Facebook Group: RugbyReferee.net Community

Or you can connect with Keith personally on Twitter or LinkedIn

In this episode, Keith talks through the announcement from World Rugby following the Council meeting on 14 November which agreed to the introduction of four Global Law Trials for new competitions/leagues after 1 January 2025.

References to "previous episodes" relate to Episode 40: Ep 40 - What is going on with laws and law changes at World Rugby?

We talk about:

• Quicker conversions
• A new set time to form a lineout (in line with 30 seconds at the scrum)
• Cleaner play away from the ruck/maul/scrum
• Not straight at uncontested lineout = play on

The following were not approved for progression

• One stop maul
• Mark from a kick off/restart
• 20 minute red card replacement - decision deferred to 2025

Plus two new approved TMO protocols.

For full law wordings, and download links to TMO protocols you can visit: https://passport.world.rugby/laws-of-the-game/laws-news/global-law-trials-1-january-2025/

If you have any comments about this episode, or suggestions for future shows, then drop me a line at ref@rugbyreferee.net!

You can follow us here:

Twitter: RugbyRefereenet

Instagram: RugbyRefereenet

Facebook: Page: RugbyReferee.net

Facebook Group: RugbyReferee.net Community

Or you can connect with Keith personally on Twitter or LinkedIn