Tackling the subject of the physical demands on elite rugby union referees
03/25/2025 04:58 AM
There is no denying that the game of rugby is tough both mentally and physically, not only for the players but also the referees.
Alongside our partners at ACME Whistles we sat down to chat with professional World Rugby Sevens referee and clinical sports therapist George Selwood to find out more about the physical impact of being a referee and what measures are in place to keep officials fit and safe.
George starts by acknowledging that how referees are perceived within the rugby world has definitely evolved over time and that they are now considered elite athletes in their own right.
"Inside the rugby world people know we do a lot of training on sevens tours and in the fifteens world with teams," he said.
"We’re running around the pitch and sometimes on the seven stops you might be training at the same time as the teams are training, so they see what we do and the intensity we work at.
"But to the world outside of rugby – the spectators – I’m not too sure. There’s lots of chat about referee fitness and the intensities that we go through and referees are looking fitter in general and looking after themselves, which is nice to see as well. So I hope it is clear that we are also athletes in our own right, but I'm not sure how much thought people give to it in reality.
"I mean, we’re comparing ourselves to players who train unbelievably hard and put their bodies on the line. So we just need to keep up and chase them around."
29-year old George feels that strength and conditioning coaching has probably evolved most in terms of training now being tailored to the individual, saying: "This is all in a bid to boost longevity for referees, and players because our referee age span is about 20 years. I think the youngest referee we’ve got is 21, the oldest is coming up to 40.
"You can’t just do the same training for the 20 year olds as you do for the 40 year olds so we've got to tailor the training. We don’t want to bring referees in really young and then ruin them by the age of 30. So I think that’s also an important part of training."
George goes on to explain more about the training the referees undertake and what else they need to consider to ensure they're at their physical peak ahead of games and tournaments.
"Luckily, we’re not taking hits like the players," he said. "But with the sevens every morning, before anything, even before breakfast, we complete our wellness monitoring, which is an app on our phone so our S&C coach can see how we’re feeling, how our muscles feel, how our body feels, how our mind feels.
"And from that, we tailor our mobility. So we have our breakfast, then we all meet for a mobility stretch preparation session before any running or any travel – that’s the priority.
"So even though a lot of training is done in the gym, I think most of the training is done actually away from the gym in terms of your preparation and how you plan things out."
Sevens officials also undertake Bronco aerobic fitness testing throughout the season which is a shuttle run test that involves three shuttles per set (20m, 40m, 60m), repeated five times (total distance 1200m) and tests aerobic and anaerobic fitness.
"As well as the fitness testing, I work with a nutritionist in England who tailors my travel and performance diet plans and also measures w body fat percentage et. And we’re very lucky to have access to physios and doctors on the sevens circuit too," he adds.
"They measure our mobility through all our joints and measure muscular strength as well, just to make sure that we’re not imbalanced or if there’s any weakness or instability or hypermobility or lack of mobility, we can improve on that to be the best performer on the field, but also reduce the chance of injury because if you identify those issues early, you can definitely tailor your training and your work to suppress the effect of any wrongdoing."
In terms of preparation and training differences between sevens and fifteens referees, George clarifies, saying: "I’d say it’s a little bit different with the main difference being the nature of sevens which involves short, sharp sprints and maximum intensity.
"So the training very much revolves around interval training – short high intensity load followed by a really short rest and then having to reload and go again under pressure.
"We work on stuff like acceleration, deceleration training and the pressures that those can have on the body, on the muscles as well. You’ve also got to think about fifteens in England weather compared to sevens around the world so it's also about conditioning the body for higher temperatures.
"You have to prepare yourself before you go anywhere hot (around the 40 degree mark), so it’s heat acclimation training before you get out there; it’s being in the sauna in these high temperature environments for a longer period of time than you’re used to experience how your body reacts under these heat pressures and then adapting again when you go somewhere else that might be -5 to -10 with the wind chill – you’re having to prepare in different ways."
Not only is there a physical toll on the body as a referee, but having to make snap decisions and keep players safe means that there is a psychological impact too. Speaking about how this side of things is managed, George goes on to say:
"Fran Matthews is the S&C coach for the sevens. She is an ex international player for England and GB sevens and she’s tailored our training so that when we are doing these high intense loads, when we come back, there’s a video screen with footage from one of the seven's matches.
"And you have to be able to make an accurate decision after a heavy run. They're not trying to catch us out. What they’re trying to do is ensure that we’ve got the ability and the capacity to think under pressure, under fatigue in these hot environments.
"If it’s not a match clip, then it’s cognitive training under physical stress, whether it be in your teams running out and back to try and collect cones in a certain order or reacting under pressure, running in a certain direction all whilst under fatigue.
"Fatigue impairs decision-making, so practicing under simulated match conditions builds mental resilience. Studies on referees show accuracy drops late in games due to fatigue – this training counters that.
"We have our law exam every stop which isn't intended to try and catch us out although there is negative marking which I think is pretty savage! It's just to make sure we're all on the same page in terms of the laws, we want to maintain our strict high standards."
During a game of sevens a referee will run around 1.8km to 2.1km, hitting their max speed at least four to six times each match putting muscles to the maximum test. When doing match after match in a tournament, this can have a cumulative effect on the body which is where training becomes key.
"When we’re doing training on the field, we're preparing for in the moment rugby and then what we do is we completely adapt this day-to-day lifestyle on game day because once you have your game, then you go into your recovery mode and recovery is a big part during the week as well.
"But it really comes into its own on game day. When I talk about recovery I mean ice baths, hydration and physio. What we want to try and do is bring the body back down to a natural state in the most efficient way possible.
"Perth, with the high heat for example, we wouldn’t ice bath straight after because we want our body to naturally decrease in temperature. We don’t want to shock the body too hard. So what we’d be doing is ice bathing before and almost shifting the recovery from post session to pre session to try and prepare the body a little bit more.
"Ice baths reduce inflammation and perceived soreness of muscles but can disrupt natural cooling if used immediately post-exercise in heat – waiting allows the body to thermoregulate first.
"Then we’re into our nutrition which is all part of recovery as well because you’ve got to be hydrated but you’ve got to be taking on the right thing so water but also taking on your sugars, replacing the salts that you’ve lost in the game and then having for example a high protein diet to help the muscles recover. But we’ve also got a high carbohydrate diet to load us up for the next game.
"I think it’s very different in terms of the training we’re doing on the field versus recovery, but they’re two very important phases."
When asked what the biggest changes have been in terms of physical and mental preparation for referees since he started refereeing compared to since he joined the elite team of refs,
George replied: "Since I’ve been on the circuit the training has definitely been tailored for individual needs a little bit more and management and coaches are always looking out for you. They want the best for you, but I think the overall physicality is a lot more now with people travelling longer distances and players running more than ever before.
"I think having that load tailored and adapted for individuals has been something key that’s come in.
"We still need to be tested; we still need to be held to account and we still need to be of a certain fitness level and that’s important, but I think everyone is so different in terms of their training – what they enjoy, what they do at home and how nutrition affects them.
"And then there's technology which is always pushing on in the sports and fitness space. Something that we’ve tried to take on board over the last couple of stops is compression and we’ve got the AQUILO cold & compression tech boots which are compression boots with ice water running through them.
"It’s like being re-born with a fresh set of legs, it’s unbelievable and it comes down to the dual benefits of compression and cold therapy working together. The boots apply compression to gently squeeze blood out of the legs, while the cold water causes vasoconstriction, reducing swelling and inflammation. Once you take them off, reperfusion kicks in as fresh, oxygenated blood rushes back to the muscles, delivering nutrients and clearing out waste like lactic acid.
"That process gives your legs a refreshing jolt, helping your body recover faster and leaving you feeling ready for the next match.
"While what we do is tailored for the top tier, there's so much here that grassroots referees at any level can tap into for their own outings. You don't need fancy compression boots – something as simple as using a cold pack or a bucket of ice water after a match can help with recovery, reducing soreness the next day. Interval training doesn't require a gym either; you can head to a local park and do short sprints for example, 20 seconds flat out, 40 seconds rest, for 8-10 minutes to build that match-ready stamina.
"Even wellness monitoring can be low-tech – just write down how you feel each morning in a notebook to spot patterns and adjust your prep. Nutrition-wise, grabbing a banana and a glass of salty water post-game covers your carbs and electrolytes without the insight of a specialist. These small tweaks bring the same principles we use into any referee's routine, helping them stay fit, sharp, and ready to perform."
To find out more about our partners at ACME whistles, visit www.acmewhistles.co.uk
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