Stagnating standards among SA Rugby's match officials have been blamed on weak, unsupportive leadership.
SA, who a few years ago boasted some of the most respected match officials in the sport, are now barely able to make an impression on World Rugby's elite panel.
Among the referees, only Jaco Peyper, who officiated in yesterday's Currie Cup final, regularly gets a high profile appointment. Rasta Rasivhenge has cracked the nod for next month's clash between Russia and Namibia in Krasnodar, while television match official Marius Jonker will monitor the much-anticipated clash between England and New Zealand at Twickenham. Marius van der Westhuizen, perhaps unsurprisingly, has disappeared off the referees panel.
For the November Tests SA Rugby only has three officials, Australia has four, New Zealand seven, and France and England have 10 each.
Some officials have pointed fingers at SA Rugby referees manager Banks Yantolo, who they claim has done little to advance them since he took office in 2016. The former school principal replaced Andre Watson after the latter's acrimonious departure.
More than one official noted that Watson had an international profile which enabled him to fight SA referees' cause at Sanzaar and World Rugby level.
"Banks has to play a greater role," one official suggested. "How are we going to improve? What are we doing differently from what we did when we had five top referees?" said the official who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation.
"New Zealand and Australia back their officials. That's why they are well represented on the Sanzaar panel. The only way you are going to get onto the World Rugby panel is through Sanzaar," the whistle-blower said.
A request by the Sunday Times this week to interview Yantolo was turned down. SA Rugby instead suggested a list of questions to be sent via their media office.
In their response, presumably worded by Yantolo, the organisation admits their referees' production line is now less populated.
Asked whether local match officials were promoted sufficiently at Sanzaar and World Rugby level, SA Rugby replied: "We are part of refereeing committees at both Sanzaar and World Rugby levels and we have our say but (sic) we are realistic in that the gap left by retirements in recent years of the men such as Craig Joubert, Jonathan Kaplan, Mark Lawrence, Marius Jonker and the likes, has left a gap which will take time to fill."
The sentiment was expressed at the time that some of those officials, who were on the wrong side of 40, were put out to pasture prematurely.
Another accusation levelled at SA Rugby by officials was that the support structure for referees, including remedial action for officials who underperform, was lacking.
"All our match officials are continually assessed with a view to improving, however they are regarded by our stakeholders, be it supporters, players or coaches," SA Rugby's response read. "We set a high bar for performance and the job of SA Rugby's referees' department is to work to improve match officiating.
"We review every match, with input from referee reviewers, referee coaches and the teams' coaches, put emphasis on the good and the bad, and from there the onus is on the match officials to put in their own "homework", just as they work on their fitness."
Asked whether SA Rugby is satisfied with the standard of refereeing, the organisation answered: "We are excited about the crop of up-and-coming match officials, replacing a number of high-profile and experienced Test referees who have moved on in recent years but as we strive for continuous improvement in all areas of performance so we will always be looking to improve."
A leading official said South African refereeing didn't go backwards, but it has stagnated of late. "I believe we have the talent but we only have pockets of excellence."..