You'd think many things have changed since citizens of Rome witnessed gladiators get the thumbs-up or thumbs-down from an omnipotent emperor like Caesar or Nero.

New Zealand's rugby union this week showed how little things have in reality changed within international rugby union since these days when people were thrown to the lions at the Colosseum.

Emperor Justinian is credited with justice itself, promoting written laws which saw the emperor's powers seperated from that of an independent judiciary. This today is the cornerstone of every fair nation on the planet and has been adopted in the administration of most fair sports like the olympics and football.

Rugby union is unfortunately one of those barbarian rogue sports which defies justice like a hip-shooting cowboy in the Wild West. Without pointing fingers, New Zealand are major culprits here and they have, in my humble opinion, shot the sheriff AND the deputy within this analogy when it comes to ensuring maintaining the All Blacks' spot as the mythical ''fastest guns'' in rugby.

This is the NZRU announcement that's got my goat: "Top international referee Lyndon Bray has today announced his retirement from all rugby to take up a role with the New Zealand Rugby Union as its new High Performance Referee Manager."

What do you make of that?

Well, I've plenty of questions but think more importantly this confirms my suspicions that Emperor Justinian's separation of powers principles have not been seen or taken root in the realm of rugby union.

Referees are pawns in rugby union and this floor-crossing by Bray shows exactly where they slot into the greater scheme of things. Compensation for services rendered, golden parachutes and golden handshakes spring to mind. Bray is an example of a referee whose services to the NZRU are being rewarded with a top job within ''the organisation''.

In South Africa we've seen plenty of this where, for example, Reserve Bank officials legislate in favour of billion dollar profits for major international corporations and then suddenly appear on their boards of directors. This move by Bray, to me, is exactly that.

The International Referee Panel of the International Rugby Board should be a strictly independent entity with an unbridgable divide separating it from national rugby unions. I'm shocked that the NZRU can be so brazen about their close relationship with Bray.

With Bray handing on his one-eyed tips and tricks to another generation of referees we're assured of at least another decade of horrendous refereeing from New Zealand and Australia.