page_title: Referee
section_title: Rugby union
hierarchical_section_title: Referee / Examples / Rugby union
caption_attribution_description: English: Referee signalling a scrum
context_page_description: A referee or simply ref is the person of authority in a variety of sports who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on-the-fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known, in addition to referee, by a variety of other titles as well, including official, umpire, judge, arbiter, arbitrator, linesman, commissaire, timekeeper, touch judge or Technical Official.
context_section_description: Rugby union games are controlled by an on field referee assisted by two Assistant Referees (AR's), and often a Television Match Official (TMO) during televised games. The referee and the touch judges cannot be contradicted by any player, but captains may discuss calls with them.
caption: A rugby union referee calling a knock-on
exif: {}