Anyone who has touched and kicked a rugby ball understands that the game is played with 15 men on either side, a field, and some form of posts for a kicker to aim at. Crowds, stadiums, and other niceties are optional.

There is, however, one component, vital and necessary for a game to proceed, then many supporters of the oval game tend to ignore, and even chastise.

Referees are the men (and women) who enforce and uphold the Laws of rugby, the rules which govern the ebb and flow of the game. Have you ever looked at the official Laws of rugby?

It's a rather thick document, jam-packed with technical know how and application. Who would have thought that the first man in the line-out must be at least two metres away from the touchline?

And what on earth happens when a player catches a ball but has a foot out in play...who wins the lineout? (I think the guy catching the ball, since I'm sure I've seen a player do that and subsequently throw himself the ball...but I could be wrong.)

The fact of the matter is being a referee is damn hard, especially if you have 50000 fans screaming for their team and frothing at the mouth whenever a decision goes the 'wrong way' (everything is relative).

The players also aren't exactly small, with a player that is under six feet (1.8 metres) being the exception rather then the rule, especially as the game continues to keep up with modern changes in diets, exercises and sports research.

A prime example is Pierre Spies: Tall, fast, heavy and probably the result of a secret genetic project based at Pretoria University, bank rolled by the Blue Bulls Rugby Union.

So, if you throw everything together, referees are faced with biased fans, massive players, and the bane of them all, the TV camera. Sometimes a referee is caught making an error when you or I watch the TV replay. Now, pause for a moment and consider how quickly a referee has to make a decision when, for example, there is an infringement at a ruck.

A referee must consider if the offending player was offside, on his feet, entering through the gate, not slowing the ball on purpose and not committing and cynical foul.

That is five or six decisions that need to be made and processed in a few seconds, because if the referee is to slow in making his decision the play will move on and the referee will lose the moment to act.

In South Africa, there have been two incidents recently where referees were assaulted physically and verbally abused. It is a prevailing problem in South Africa, especially at club and school games where you will hear the crowd moan and whine when a referee makes a decision.

I've had the opportunity to sit in on a session for a Level One referee qualification. Just the correct position to stand when a penalty or conversion is being taken is complicated enough, and that is just the assistant referees (or touch judges in the old language, but that term, as I found it, is incorrect).

So I say to all you who think a referee can't tell the difference between day or night: Why don't you give it a try? Because once you do, your perspective will change and for the better.

With so many people getting cheesed off and turning nasty when a referee makes a human error, no wonder there are a shortage of referees in South Africa, and I imagine all over the world. Who would want to officiate when all you will get in return is misunderstanding and ignorance?