Six Nations referee Andrew Brace admits he questioned his rugby future after online abuse and ‘death threats’

Referee Andrew Brace. Photo: James Crombie/INPHO

Referee Andrew Brace. Photo: James Crombie/INPHO

Irish referee Andrew Brace

Referee Andrew Brace. Photo: James Crombie/INPHO

Sinead Kissane Twitter

January 31 2023 07:15 AM

Six Nations referee Andrew Brace has opened up about the “dark side” of his job and the “death threats” sent to him and his family on social media after he refereed the Autumn Nations Cup final in December 2020.

In an interview on the Left Wing podcast, Limerick-based Brace said he questioned whether he should continue in the job after the impact the abuse had on him and his family.

Brace will referee Scotland v Wales in Murrayfield in round two of the Six Nations, which will feature an all-IRFU match official line-up for the first time in 20 years.

Less than three years ago, Brace was stood down from a Champions Cup game in France and switched to another game two weeks after he refereed England’s controversial extra-time win over France due to the level of social media abuse he received.

“I think, as referees, we can all take criticism. We wouldn’t be in this job if we couldn’t. But the problem is when it goes past that line of becoming abuse and when they start finding your family and your sister and your mother and partner and start sending them death threats and that becomes really, really tough to take,” Brace says of the online abuse.

“You think you’re strong enough to deal with that side of things, but it’s only when it hits you that it really kind of hits you deep.”

Brace – who’s been a referee for 10 years – says he got over 2,000 abusive messages sent to him on social media after that England-France game. A lot of the abuse was aimed at an obituary dedicated to his late father, which Brace had previously posted.

“They find your sister and start saying, I hope you all die of Covid and – off the back of my father’s obituary – saying I hope you die too,” says Brace, who felt the pressure a week later when he returned to referee Bristol v Clermont.

“There was just so much stress during the week that I’d gone through that it really hit me in the game. I remember going a small bit dizzy and I was like, I’m not right here. It’s just really that anxiety. It had all built up and it’s only when it hits you that you realise something really bad has happened.

“Yeah, you do question (whether to continue as a referee), more to the point of, OK, the health of your family really, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, there’s some amazing perks that refereeing has given us. I wouldn’t have visited half the countries that I visited. I’ve been very privileged, but this is obviously the dark side to it.

“We all have to be very careful of what we want our game to become. We all have a great responsibility to uphold the values of our game and that’s why I say that people need to think before they comment or tweet because there’s massive, massive repercussions that can come off the back of it.”

Fellow referee Wayne Barnes revealed in December that he considered quitting after threats were made against his family following his handling of France v South Africa the previous month. While Brace welcomes the recent launch of the International Rugby Match Officials (IRMO), he says the pressure on referees is rising.

“I think where we are now with the new global law trials, and the more technology we introduce, that expectation level rises. Everybody expects that perfect decision and there’s no such thing in a game. Our game is very grey. It’s not black and white and there’s a lot of decisions, as we all know, that are up to interpretation.

The Left Wing: Who’d be a referee? Andrew Brace on law changes, death threats and having the best seat in the house

“I think that’s the biggest challenge we have as referees, is to get that alignment, that consistency across the group and not only the group of referees here within the union and the tournament but across the board.”

And a hot topic will be the officiating of the high tackle and consistency in that area after a number of high-profile incidents.

“The message is clear from World Rugby and they want us to continue to be strong around this area. This is the number one area. Safety is paramount, so we have to protect the players and any head-high contact has to be dealt with provided there is foul play.

“We have to be action-focused, not outcome-focused, and I think that’s really key for us now. It’s so important that we are and we don’t just adjudicate on the outcome – that is very relevant, but we have to referee the action. And if the action is illegal or deemed highly reckless, an intentional act of foul play, well, as you know, within the head-high contact process, no mitigation can be applied there.”

Like the players, this Six Nations is also a final trial for referees to make the cut for the World Cup in France this coming autumn.

“We’re nine months out from a World Cup and it’s a really important window for us as officials. We got together recently before the Six Nations.

“We were all in Lensbury for four days. Fitness tests there and go through all the technical areas, the focus areas to try and get that alignment that we’ll all be working off the same hymn sheet going into Six Nations because it’s the last window before Rugby World Cup selection.

“We all want that seat on the plane. So, a lot of preparation goes into that from our end. Twelve referees are going to be selected after this window, so it’s a really important time for us to put our hand forward.”

Full interview with Andrew Brace is out today on The Left Wing podcast