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'If we can turn the dial': Dickson on the impact of Whistleblowers

Referee Karl Dickson looks on prior to the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Fiji and Georgia at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux on September 30, 2023 in Bordeaux, France. (Photo by Pauline Ballet - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

Karl Dickson is in a unique position in rugby, having experienced the sport at the highest level as both a player and a referee.

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The former Harlequins scrum-half is not the only referee to have been on the other side of the whistle- his World Cup colleague Nic Berry also played for the Reds, Racing 92 and Wasps. But he confessed recently that, as a player, he had no idea what referees go through.

With the launch of World Rugby Studios’ Whistleblowers, players, coaches and fans will gain an insight that Dickson never had during his playing career.

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WHISTLEBLOWERS – Now available on RugbyPass.tv | RPTV

Watch World Rugby’s newly released Whistleblowers – a ground-breaking film following the world’s top match officials at Rugby World Cup 2023 in France, only on RugbyPass TV

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WHISTLEBLOWERS – Now available on RugbyPass.tv | RPTV

Watch World Rugby’s newly released Whistleblowers – a ground-breaking film following the world’s top match officials at Rugby World Cup 2023 in France, only on RugbyPass TV

Watch now

The documentary is set to be released on February 1, and sheds light on the life of Dickson and his fellow match officials in France last year.

“As a player, as a No9, obviously you try and referee the game that you think you’re looking at,” the referee said at the documentary’s premiere in London.

“But you actually have no idea what the actual referees go through, what their lifestyles are like, what the behind-the-scenes look like, particularly at a professional level.”

Whistleblowers provides an unprecedented look at what match officials go through at a World Cup- the highs and lows of the job, and the rigours of being an elite referee.

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Dickson went on to describe how it was a “massive eye-opener” becoming a referee after a playing career that included over 150 appearances for Quins, but something that remains is his love of the game. This passion for the game that he and his colleagues hold, he believes, shines through in the documentary.

“It was a massive eye-opener for me coming into the game,” he said. “But I think as well from the film what you get is you see how much we enjoy the game. We love the game. We wouldn’t be part of it if we didn’t. I think the film does show, obviously, the negative sides to it, but also just how much love we have for each other and for the game of rugby. I think they portray that really well.”

This negative side is the abuse that match officials receive, which is laid bare in this warts-and-all production.

Chief Marketing and Content Officer at World Rugby James Rothwell admitted that they did not go into this project with the aim of making a film about social media abuse, but said that it was “very clear that there was a different story to tell”.

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Whether it is in the stands or online, Dickson said how referees try to block out the abuse they receive, but are inevitably not entirely successful. He said that only with experience can a referee block out this noise.

However, he hopes that Whistleblowers will usher a sea change in how referees are treated.

“It comes with experience and being actually exposed to these situations,” the 41-year-old said when asked how he blocks out the external noise.

“You come up with your way of dealing with it, almost blocking out that noise, trying to be with your team.

“You can never truly block it all out. You can hear that in the stadium with the fans, obviously with the players around. You feel that pressure, you can hear that pressure. But, again, using that experience you have, you try to overcome that and make a decision for the game or a decision you feel is right for for your team going forward. But you can never truly block it out.

“There’s always going to be times when we do look online. Obviously fans and stuff say things and it is in your face, you do see it, you do hear it. You’re never going to fully get rid of it, but if we can turn the dial one per cent, two per cent, the way where people will actually say ‘this is a real problem in rugby,’ it might stop those one, two, three people sending something, and will lead to more positive comments.”

Watch Whistleblowers exclusively on RugbyPass TV.

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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