There has been much gnashing of teeth since World Rugby announced their match officials for this year’s Rugby World Cup.
Referee Jaco Peyper and TMO Marius Jonker are the only South Africans among the 26 match officials set for duty at the tournament that kicks off in September.
That some South Africans were surprised the country produced only two officials fit for duty at the game’s showpiece event says more about their disconnect from reality than it does about implied bias from World Rugby.
In recent times Peyper and Jonker are the only local officials who have seen regular action on the game’s highest peaks.
Some, even well known coaches, may disagree but the pair are by far the most respected and distinguished match officials from these shores at the minute.
South African rugby and its fans will have to accept the cold hard reality that the standard and the standing of the country’s referees has for some time been in decline.
That South Africa will have only two match officials at the RWC is merely a reflection of this.
South Africa simply does not command the respect in refereeing circles it used to. There was a time when the country ranked among the most respected and envied refereeing production lines. Andre Watson remains to only referee to take charge of two RWC finals (1999, 2003) and the country was generally better represented at the sport’s show-piece tournament.
Referees, past and present, believe the country has failed its whistle-blowers. Some complain that SA Rugby’s strategic objectives for referees have not been clearly defined, others lament a drop in training and education.
Even after Watson stepped aside he ran a referees department that saw Jonker, Jonathan Kaplan, Craig Joubert and Mark Lawrence officiate at the 2007 RWC.
Referees, past and present, believe the country has failed its whistle-blowers. Some complain that SA Rugby’s strategic objectives for referees have not been clearly defined, others lament a drop in training and education and that those responsible for the shortfall are not being held accountable.
The same complaint is levelled at the leadership.
Former Test ref Lawrence is in charge of referees high performance and he operates in a department headed by referees manager Banks Yantolo who, in turn, has to answer to director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.
The often repeated criticism of Yantolo is that he lacks authority and clout, and as a result he does not have the required gravitas to state SA’s case at World Rugby gatherings.
Though Lawrence has become the de facto go-to for local refs, his role in the decline of refereeing standards should not be free from scrutiny.
Those who follow the game may wonder what has happened to Rasta Rashivhenge, Adrian Jacobs and Egon Seconds, who joined the refereeing fraternity with much fanfare but have either disappeared or have been assigned to lesser roles. Equally, they may be puzzled why Marius van der Westhuizen, who is a capable and experienced referee, hardly gets a look in at the highest level.
There is genuine concern that when Peyper blows into his whistle the last time, the country would not have a referee capable of filling his boots. The same perhaps applies to Jonker in the TMO’s booth.
Van der Westhuizen, Cwengwile Jadezweni, AJ Jacobs, Aimee Barrett-Theron, Griffin Colby and Morne Ferreira, as well as TMOs Seconds and Quinton Immelman are supposed to make the step up. Whether they will is moot.
Sadly, time has long been blown on the system that helped Peyper and Jonker graduate to the top of their game.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.