Welsh referees have certainly established themselves in rugby folklore for their interactions with players over the years. Legendary official Nigel Owens is at the forefront of this, but it's Ben Whitehouse's brilliant interaction which has gone completely viral in the last 24 hours.
The clip was uploaded to TikTok on Thursday and has garnered almost six million views. It is no surprise it has done so well, with the 'telling off' reminiscent of Owens himself! The incident occurred back in 2015, when Connacht earned an historic win over Munster at Thomond Park.
The video starts off with Connacht player John Muldoon complaining to Whitehouse about an incident at the ruck. Muldoon is held back by his team mate but the referee had enough of the chat and called the flanker over. Here we go.
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"It's my turn to speak. If you speak to me like that again, it won't be a scrum, it will be a penalty." says Whitehouse.
"I'm all for chat at the right times and in the right tone. Do you understand me?"
"Have the respect to look at me when I'm talking to you, please. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir." replied Muldoon.
"Thank you very much. You know I'm quite amenable, speak to me tidy and I will listen all day."
"Sorry sir," apologised Muldoon.
Whitehouse is polite, maintains eye contact and gets his point across nicely to the player, and the Connacht man apologises. Tidy.
Many viewers pointed out how good it was that Muldoon swallowed his pride, admitted he was in the wrong and apologised. The whole interaction is a prime example of how players and officials should converse in sport. Even in a highly-charged game like rugby, there is always time for respect.
Viewers, many of them no doubt seeing this incident for the first time, were in awe.
"'Sorry sir'. Perfect!" said one
"Emotions run high, referee sets it straight and the athlete immediately understands both their positions in the game. True discipline." said another.
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