Pictured are Pembrokeshire society of rugby union referees.

When the invitation arrived to attend a meeting of the Pembrokeshire society of rugby union referees, it was a chance to see what makes the rugby whistlers tick, especially since Robert Yemen was giving a talk.

At Narberth RFC Robert was in full flow regarding the way local refs can aspire to higher things, with almost 20 members listening attentively to what he had to say.

Robert is the manager of match officials for the WRU and as such is responsible for dealing with all aspects of the game relating to referees. A former top ref himself, he is now a full time official of the WRU and had travelled down from his home in Tai Bach, near Port Talbot.

Welcoming him were the PSRUR officials, chairman, and match appointments secretary Eirian Edwards; Marc James, treasurer, and secretary Andrew Miles, with referees ranging in age from teenager Ben Cole to Terry Griffiths, who travels from Llandysul.

After retiring from being a referee Terry has become the referees' observer, co-ordinator of referees in Pembrokeshire and recruitment officer. He is always looking for new officials and clearly takes pride in the fact that young refs like Ben Cole, from Carew and Lyn Roberts, of Efailwen are doing so well.

After a talk by Robert the questions flowed thick and fast, with laughter when he said the game is far less dirty now as players show more self-discipline. Both Nigel Bevan and Colin Phillips nodded in agreement, perhaps because they were both well known for big hits as flanker and winger respectively at Narberth.

Nigel also caused a few smiles when he commented that something must be done to curb chat' from players, not least because he was a good talker to officials during the game.

Some of the questioning revolved around being assessed because, like Adrian Slade, it was generally felt that more consistency was needed in this area. Robert was firm in his belief that referees should be given credit for what they spot and deal with, rather than where they are standing, and told everyone that pride in performance was vital, aiming high and being ready to learn would ensure that referees gained promotion.

As well as messrs Bevan and Phillips, the latter looking resplendent in his suit and black tie after coming straight from his work as an undertaker, there were others who had played sport to a good standard themselves, like county cricketer Colin Kaijaks and footballer Adrian Slade.

Adrian has shown his prowess over a few years alongside Richard Hughes (Saron), John Griffiths (Newport), Terry Pratt (Haverfordwest) and Mark Smith (Milford Haven), who have become experienced officials.

Another welcome newcomer was Sumith Warnasuriya, who works at Withybush Hospital, and was made very welcome by the rest.

Eirian Edwards summed up the spirit within the group because he is totally committed to refereeing and it was a smashing evening for someone who has cursed a few whistlers on the touch line in their time.

There was a real feel of camaraderie and it is a pity that more former players don't take up the game because they would enjoy the banter and willingness to support each other in gaining experience.

Colin Phillips and Andrew Miles are the jokers while everyone enjoyed an enjoyable evening with Robert, who was ready to answer any questions from discipline matters to the recent refs' performances in the World Cup.

11:42am Tuesday 15th January 2008

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