A novel evening was held by the Friars Vaults sponsored Pembrokeshire Referees' Society recently, when they welcomed as guest speaker young WRU referee, Ben Cole, of Carew.

Secretary Jonathan Twigg was full of praise for his rugby counterpart for stepping into the lions den as guest speaker.

"The confidence that Ben exuded was testament to both his ability and maturity, two facets required to reach the top as a referee," he said. "He fielded an array of questions from society members as well as Nigel Owens or any top international rugby referee."

Ben was invited by the society in light of the campaign emanating from the top echelons of Welsh football, where a key word being used is 'respect', something synonymous with rugby referees.

Cole spoke of his achievements since taking up the whistle as a schoolboy just three seasons ago, which have included officiating at the Millennium Stadium and also playing a part in the IRB Under 20 Championships.

A number of interesting learning points were borne from the evening, notably the mentoring a rugby referee receives. Before being let loose on the field, Ben was accompanied to two games by a refereeing coach, before acting as a touch judge to a more senior colleague and then receiving reciprocal support in his first game.

"There was always somebody their to advise, cajole and support in those tentative first days," said Cole, in contrast perhaps to the 'learn from your mistakes' occurrences for his round ball colleagues.

Ben has a mentor in Andrew Miles, who he can turn to when the going gets tough, and all members of the Pembrokeshire Rugby Referees society are a great source of help and support. On match days, if a match assessor is present, it is a two-way de-briefing.

When centering on the issue of respect, it was obvious the differing standards accepted by the two codes.

"Discipline is the key to success in rugby and is instilled from a young age in school and club games," said Cole. "Qualified referees are needed for any game to take place in the rugby world and as such the standard is consistent.

"There is a strict code of conduct in place for the clubs to adhere to and those falling below an acceptable level receive a reduced grant from the WRU the following season," he continued.

Twigg acknowledged the "significance of funding from a central source has its place in instilling a level of control," but members endorsed the mooted idea of a qualified referee for all games as a thought for the football fraternity to adopt.

Society chairman Steve Williams proclaimed the evening a "resounding success," thanking Cole for his attendance and wishing him the all the luck from officers and members in his aim of "being the best he could be."

Williams was joined in a standing ovation from members and presented Cole with a society jacket in recognition of his attending the meeting.

Jonathan Twigg concluded that "it would be nice to further our links in future with our oval ball colleagues, whilst also informing members that Dave Brandon, an ACU umpire from Pembrokeshire had accepted an invitation to speak on his return from his exploits in the Indian Premier Cricket League, an international event."

The next meeting of the society is on October 12 when it is run in conjunction with the WWFA seminar, with further information being available by emailing [email protected]">[email protected]