Mark Lawrence announces retirement as international referee – Rugby News
The South African international Rugby Union referee, Mark Lawrence, has announced his retirement as a test referee. Lawrence made his decision public on Monday, September 12. He said, “I had an enjoyable and stimulating career as a Test referee but the
time has come to develop the next breed of South African Test referees.”
However, Lawrence has announced that he will continue his referee career in the South Africa Rugby Union’s (SARU), Currie Cup and South African, New Zealand, Australia Rugby’s (SANZAR) Super Rugby competitions. He said, “I still love the job and will continue
to referee at Super Rugby level and in South African domestic rugby, but I have to begin to think of life after full-time match officiating.”
Commenting on his decision to take retirement from his current role, Lawrence added that he has quit the job to focus mentoring and coaching roles. He further added that SARU has approached him and offered him an oppurtunity to work in a coaching role for
the developing the future South African test referees.
SARU's General Manager of Referees, Andre Watson, has commented on Lawrence’s services as a test match official and said, “Mark has been one of the world's top referees for a number of years and has always been popular among players, coaches and fellow officials.”
Watson has praised Lawrence’s skills and refereeing style. He termed him as having a sympathetic style and expressed his desire to develop this skill in the young and upcoming referees.
Watson added that Lawrence will help SARU in developing these new emerging referees. He added that Lawrence will play a handful of roles in teaching the young referees about game management, handling pressures, dealing with situations and teaching them good
operating practices.
Lawrence has refereed 27 international tests in his career. He last officiated the international test match, which was played between the USA Eagles and Canada in a pre-world cup match at Colorado in August.
Besides this, Lawrence has officiated 108 Currie Cup and 66 Super Rugby games.
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