- Rory Crombie might be a teenager, but he is stepping up to the adult game with ease, controlling senior games as well as his goals and ambitions
- He refereed India against the Philippines, becoming the youngest rugby test referee
Rugby referees are a unique breed in sport. Behemoths tower over the man or woman in the middle, capable of picking them up with one hand, only to utter "yes sir" and "sorry ma'am". One boy now capable of creating the gravitas needed to command that respect is Rory Crombie, 17.
The Hong Kong schoolboy is the youngest test match referee in the world, having taken charge of India vs Philippines this year. Unlike cricket, where test match status is narrowly defined, rugby union tests are more broadly defined as contests between any two nationally representative teams.
He started reffing when he was just 14 and it was only a year before he was involved in adult men's and women's games. He even refereed the Hong Kong women's premiership final.
"Obviously my age is just part of the challenge, and that's what I enjoy, that part of overcoming that possibility of a player reacting badly to seeing a young referee, and that's something you have to deal with," Crombie said.
He said players have generally afforded him the same respect they would an adult. When a player is in his face, he makes sure he uses the break in play as effectively as possible.
"The first time it happened I probably wouldn't have dealt with it as well as I would now. You just cannot take it personally," Crombie said. "If I'm flustered, it's pretty good to use downtime in the game to reset. We have scrums, line outs, tries, conversions, all of those are times that you can think about how you are doing."
Crombie is not getting ahead of himself. He has a range of goals, but all of them are within his control. He could write down the number of matches he wants to referee, or a grade he wants to be involved in, but the invitation to take charge of a game is someone else's call. All he can do is focus on his performance.
"I can plan for my set up and I can plan for things I want to focus on," Crombie said. "So, for example, the India-Philippines game, one of my focuses was on the scrum, just making sure that it was all set up right."
Crombie is in the Hong Kong high-performance programme along with nine adults and professional refs.
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His coach, Tom Baker, said Crombie's best skill is that he is willing to learn: "What impresses me is Rory listens. He adapts on the field."
"He ticks all of the boxes but (people) management is his biggest work on," Baker said, adding Crombie would be put to the test this year if he is involved in the men's premiership.
"Dealing with those high-performance boys, who do rugby every day, and professional coaches, they see a young boy and think they can get one over them, dealing with the pressure (will be a challenge)," Baker said.
Off the field, the highs and lows of having a bad performance can be taxing for someone so young, Baker said. He is trying to support Crombie and is even considering a sports psychologist to help him deal with the roller coaster.
Crombie is aware he has lots of strings to add to his bow and said it will just take more game time.
"You need to get it wrong a lot to improve, especially with communication. That can be difficult at first to get right, it's still something I need to work on," Crombie said.
Crombie has come a long way in a short time, not least having his voice break. As he sets his sights on university, he will consider his refereeing career in his applications.
"I've started to take refereeing more seriously than I used to but I'd like to keep going in the direction I'm headed, and hopefully referee bigger and better games," Crombie said.
"The world's his oyster," Baker said.
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