Steve Diamond’s season-ending ban was meted out because he called a group of matchday officials “cunts” before telling the TMO he should retire.
The Newcastle director of rugby was slapped with a six-match suspension last week after a disciplinary hearing into an incident that took place in the dying throes of the Falcons’ late defeat by fellow strugglers Exeter last month.
Diamond was found guilty of directing verbal abuse at match officials and the publication of the full written judgment details the incident. At the hearing Diamond admitted using “industrial language” and expressed frustration at himself. He also claimed to have been being “sarcastic” with officials with whom he shares a “kinship”.
As previously revealed by the Guardian last year, the RFU introduced stricter sanctions at all levels of the game, including the Premiership, after almost 50% of match officials surveyed said they have been subjected to abuse in recent seasons.
The incident took place after Newcastle’s late 17-15 defeat by Exeter on 29 March. The Chiefs were victorious thanks to a late Greg Fisilau try but in the buildup, the Exeter centre Tamati Tua appeared to elbow the Falcons wing Alex Hearle in the head. The disciplinary judgment notes that the force was such that Hearle’s mouthguard was dislodged and he has not played since.
Diamond was aggrieved that the incident was not reviewed and shortly afterwards, when walking past the referee Adam Leal and his assistants in the tunnel, said: “I hope you cunts can sleep tonight.” Diamond gave evidence that he remained calm throughout what he considered a private conversation.
Around 45 minutes later while the TMO David Rose was having his post-match meal, Diamond told him, “you need to retire, you need to retire”. Two days later Diamond sent separate emails to Rose and Leal apologising for his comments.
The disciplinary panel ultimately found that both comments constituted verbal abuse of match officials. Diamond said that “does not blame anyone but himself” but sought to explain the context of a match between the Premiership’s bottom two clubs “who are struggling financially”. The judgment also notes that the Rugby Football Union’s head of professional game officials Paul Hull has indicated that the incident involving Tua and Hearle ought to have resulted in a penalty for Newcastle.
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Diamond had been supported by a character reference from Graham Crozier, a senior member of the Northumberland Rugby Union Referees Society. In mid-March Diamond gave a speech for the society in which he praised officials in the community game and in giving evidence, he said he believes there is a difference between professional referees who are paid and referees in the community game who are not.
Addressing his suspension in his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Diamond called for more accountability in refereeing decisions. “As soon as anybody says something outside of their realm, they corral the caravans around themselves and protect themselves. Let’s be honest, I’ve got a six-week ban for saying an inappropriate comment – which I’ve apologised for – to a professional referee in complete privacy. We understand we have to have regulation and understand I can’t say what I said, but there’s got to be some accountability otherwise people keep making mistakes.”