The IRFU is going to have to address the problem of substandard referring. This column saw three matches over the past week in which the referee was at best poor, a view not of one person alone but a general consensus. The Leinster Schools' Senior Cup and the AIB League deserve better, as do the supporters and players themselves.

Former international referee Owen Doyle has been given the task by the IRFU of overseeing the development of refereeing in this country and he must now address falling standards, matches dominated by the whistle and the uneven and haphazard application of the laws. We are very critical of players, it is time that the fallibility of referees is no longer beyond reproach.

The nadir in a bad week was the performance of Bertie Smith in the Mary's-Clontarf game. If referees suggest that they are a much maligned breed then they should watch a video of that game.