Referees
Toulon coach Bernard Laporte was on Wednesday banned for 13 weeks for a vicious verbal tirade against a referee.
The suspension, which sees the former France coach sidelined until 13 May, was meted out by the national rugby league’s (LNR) disciplinary commission.
The match officials for the 1st and 2nd Rounds of the 2014 Super Rugby season have been released.
South African teams alone will contest the opening round and the Stormers have a bye in the first week.
Australian and New Zealand teams will start their Super Rugby seasons in Round 2.
South African referees boss André Watson says two referees on the field is the way forward for world rugby.
International Rugby Board (IRB) chairman Bernard Lapasset has spoken out against the “increase” in public criticism of referees ahead of the start of this season’s Six Nations.
Rugby Union, in common with many sports, has long set great store by respect for match officials.
Western Province and Stormers forward Michael Rhodes was cleared of further sanctions on Thursday, after being cited for a dangerous tackle in the Currie Cup Final against the Sharks in Cape Town last season.
Western Province and Stormers forward Michael Rhodes will appear before a South African Rugby Union (SARU) judicial committee on Thursday for a dangerous tackle in last year’s Currie Cup final against The Sharks at Newlands.
A lot of rugby will be played this weekend, with the much awaited friendly between Saracens and the Cell C Sharks, the HSBC Sevens World Series tournament in Las Vegas and the LV Cup, amongst others, happening.
The Referees & Match Officials have been named.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) is set to ditch the ‘YES NINE’ scrum call in favour of a non-verbal, pre-agreed instruction.
The change will take place with immediate effect, and will be introduced at all levels of the game.
Referees will no longer give a verbal instruction of ‘YES NINE’, and instead will issue a non-verbal instruction to the scrumhalf when he considers the scrum to be square and stable.
The non-verbal instruction must be agreed by the referee and both scrumhalves prior to the start of the game and could be in the form of a tap on the back while the referee is on the side of the put-in, or an agreed signal (nod of the head or hand signal) by the referee while he is on the other side of the scrum.
As summer settles warmly down south and cricket provides most interest, wet and wind do their best to disrupt the North as rugby seeks to fight the wild weather off so that the European competitions can be played this week and next.
These are the last two pool rounds in the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup before the knock-out rounds. There is a lot at stake for some clubs.
As we bid farewell to 2013 and move into 2014, the European rugby circuit is still active, albeit less active than normal.
We take a brief look at the appointment of referees and match officials till 5 January 2014.
Whilst South African and Southern Hemisphere referees are sitting with their feet up or bare feet in the sand at the coast this Festive Season, their Northern Hemisphere counterparts are still at work.
So where do you really want to live, in leisurely summer time in the Southern Hemisphere or in the cold gloom and doom of icy winter in the Northern Hemisphere?
Here are the referees doing duty till 29 December 2013.
The year was full of spectacular moments and performances as well as disappointing lows and infamous incidents; we name and shame the best and worst in our 2013 Awards.
New Zealand and Wales ruled their respective hemispheres for the second successive year, the All Blacks enjoying a flawless 2013 campaign.
Jonathan Kaplan is not stopping refereeing, something he has done for 30 seasons and at which he has had magnificent achievements but he will no longer be refereeing Test or provincial matches. We are publishing tributes.
South Africans Craig Joubert and Jaco Peyper have been appointed by the International Rugby Board (IRB) to referee in next year’s Six Nations.
The Varsity Cup matches in 2014 will be played with two referees on the field. It’s not a new idea but the use of it is moving up a notch with the Varsity Cup.
The South African Rugby Union has confirmed the panels for the 2014 season, with a number of changes resulting from a selection and grading meeting held last week. Retirements and the reduction of some panels has also had an impact on the final lists.
England’s Rugby Football Union has suspended Premiership referee David Rose who appeared in court on Monday to answer a benefit fraud charge.
England’s Wayne Barnes will referee the Boks’ final end of year Test against France in Paris on Saturday.
Barnes will be the Boks’ third northern hemisphere referee in as many matches on their tour after Ireland’s Alain Rolland took control of their 24-15 win over Wales in Cardiff, while France’s Jérôme Garcès was the man in the middle in their 28-0 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh last Sunday.
Samoa centre George Pisi is set to miss the remainder of his country’s matches in November after he was handed a six week ban for a tip tackle on Ireland wing Tommy Bowe during last Saturday’s 40-9 hammering by the Irish at Lansdowne Road.
France’s Jérôme Garcès will referee the Scotland v Springboks Test at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Kick-off is at 17:00.
Two players have been cited for alleged foul play, following the weekend’s round of Test matches.
Australian coach Ewen McKenzie was left thinking of what might have been, after two controversial tries sparked England into coming from behind to beat the Wallabies 20-13 at Twickenham on Saturday.
Jonathan Kaplan who will be retiring after the Currie Cup will go out in style as he has been announced as the referee for the Currie Cup final between The Sharks and DHL Western Province on Saturday.
Free State Cheetahs prop Schalk van der Merwe would have appeared before a South African Rugby Union judicial committee on Tuesday, however the hearing was postponed till Wednesday.
The IRB has cast its net further in making its appointment to the November Tests, mostly in Europe.
There are several of the tried and tested – Craig Joubert, Jaco Peyper, Nigel Owens, Steve Walsh, Alain Rolland, George Clancy, Jérôme Graces, Romain Poite, Wayne Barnes, for example. There are those finding their feet like Lourens van der Merwe, Glen Jackson, JP Doyle, Pascal Gauzère, Leighton Hodges, Greg Garner, Ian Davies, John Lacey and Francisco Pastrana. Then there are those who are just standing up and taking their first steps – Stuart Berry, Chris Assmus, Mike Fraser, Dudley Phillips, Federico Anselmi, Luke Pearce, Marius Mitrea, Joaquin Montes, Juan Sylvestre and Claudio Antonio.
World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry, affectionally also known as “Ted”, could find himself in hot water once again for disparaging remarks he has made about match officials.
The former All Blacks boss who is now a technical advisor for the Pumas, had some choice words to say about the standards of refereeing in the Rugby Championship, saying that referees and the judicial panel have been “totally inconsistent” and are “a weakness in the game.”
Already the moaning has started. The scrums are going down too often. They are ruining the spectacle. Let the scrum-halves just throw the ball into the second row like they do in league. It is all predictably negative and misses the point entirely.
Alain Rolland, one of the top referees in the world, has announced his retirement at the end of the current season.
He is 47 years of age.
All this hand wringing and cries of foul because the French ref Romain Poite, in this past Saturday’s game, sunk South Africa’s chances of winning in Eden Park Auckland, since 1937 needs a rethink.
As fans whose emotions are fueled by the learned and very emotional commentators and animated in studio television presenters, we need to make a far more calculated observation on this, as South Africa is now playing at the highest level of international sports and all occasions and events need to be anticipated, rehearsed, with a number of options planned to give South Africa the advantage.
The South African Rugby Union has spiritedly knocked back suggestions that it did not take a powerful enough stance following the “Bismarck du Plessis affair” in the Castle Rugby Championship Test between New Zealand and South Africa in Auckland.
The Springbok hooker has subsequently had his controversial red card, issued by French referee Romain Poite at Eden Park on Saturday, erased by a SANZAR judicial officer, and he is clear to represent the country against the Wallabies if chosen at Newlands on Saturday week.
But some domestic critics and fans have raged that it is “too little too late” as the dismissal of Du Plessis badly dented the Boks’ prospects of winning at their long-time bogey venue; the All Blacks eventually won 29-15.
The Springboks face potentially more French referee heartache with the realisation that Jérôme Garcès has been appointed to take charge of their next Rugby Championship match against Australia at Newlands on Saturday, September 28.
Kick-off is at 17:00.
Having had a disturbed night’s sleep, and having blasted Romain Poite and his co-match officials here on Rugby-Talk, during and after the Rugby Championship match yesterday, it is fitting to have a look at what rugby analists, the rugby media here and abroad (including those from New Zealand), have to say.
Firstly, let’s look at the SuperSport media panel who sat during and after the match, with Nick Mallett (fromer Springbok coach) and John Mitchell (former All Blacks coach) the key ingredients here, augmented by Naas Botha (Former Springbok Captain) and Ashwin Willemse (former Springbok wing).
Both Mitchell and Mallett slammed referee Poite, point blank, so too Naas Botha and Ashwin Willemse.
Here’s a video exerpt of what these fine gentlemen had to say:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/LkptdOWWVIU[/youtube]
SANZAR judicial officer Terry Willis has removed a red card from the disciplinary record of Bismarck du Plessis.
Du Plessis was issued with a red card after receiving two yellow cards during the Rugby Championship match between New Zealand and South Africa at the weekend.
The International Rugby Board has confirmed that French referee Romain Poite was wrong in his decision to give Bismarck du Plessis his first yellow card during the Boks’ clash against the All Blacks in Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship match in Auckland.
Du Plessis received two yellow cards and was sent from the field in the 42nd minute, making the Boks play with 14 men for almost 50 minutes in the game, which many feel allowed New Zealand to win 29-15.
Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis will appear before a SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer after being shown a red card in the defeat to the All Blacks.
Du Plessis received two yellow cards for separate incidents in the 29-15 defeat at Eden Park on Saturday, and will have his case considered in the first instance by SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Adam Casselden.