Bryce Lawrence may stop officiating Super Rugby fixtures to be played in SA - Rugby News
New Zealand referee, Bryce Lawrence, has indicated his possible departure from conducting Super Rugby matches scheduled to be played in South Africa. Lawrence got himself under fire from the Springboks team and supporters after he made some controversial
decisions in the quarter-final of Rugby World Cup 2011, played between South Africa and Australia. South Africa lost that contest by a close margin of 11-9 but opened an offensive front against the referee. Lawrence told the media on November 15 that he will
not take the risk of travelling to South Africa if any threat was found.
A hectic series of stern criticism was made from the various circles of South Africa which clearly blamed Lawrence for their early exit from RWC 2011. The defending champs Springboks were in good position to defeat the rampant Wallabies in the first stage
of knockout matches when they were penalised unduly a number of times during the match.
South African Rugby Union expressed its disappointment over the irresponsible referring of Bryce Lawrence. The poor decisions of the referee saw an end to the rugby career of South African skipper John Smit, who retired after the defeat. However, the outgoing
player also slammed the umpire and said that the only good aspect of his retirement was to never be supervised by Lawrence in his life.
Meanwhile, Bryce Lawrence admitted the errors he committed during that particular match and said he was disappointed with the some aspects of his performance. He added that, “In all honesty I'm not going to go over there if there's any personal threat or
I have concerns about my safety because in the end it's a job, I know that, and also it's just a sport so I'm not going to put myself at risk.”
He added that, “I was disappointed with some aspects in my own performance that day after refereeing four really pretty strong games in pool play. I'm not blaming anyone for the quarterfinal refereeing display apart from myself. I didn't referee as well
as I could.”
Sanzar revealed the referee panel for Super Rugby 2012 during last week and Lawrence was included in it from New Zealand.
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