SANZAR announces match referees for Super Rugby play-offs
South Africa New Zealand and Australia Rugby (SANZAR), the governing body of Super Rugby, has announced the match officials for the play-off stages of the final stages of the season.
The play-offs are slated to start this week as the New Zealander conference derby Blues takes on the Australian derby Waratahs on June 25 in Eden Park, Auckland. The SANZAR referee selection body made the announcement about the four match officials today, June 22, in a press conference.
The panel introduced the match referees including Bryce Lawrence, Chris Pollock, Jonathan Kaplan and Craig Joubert and informed reporters that the four officials would conduct the remaining matches of Super Rugby.
According to the details, Bryce Lawrence will see out both quarter-finals, to be played on June 25th and 26th. Likewise, Joubert has been named the referee of the semi-final of the Queensland Reds, which is scheduled to be played July 1. Kaplan will be given the whistle on July 2, to control the Stormers’ semi-final in Cape Town.
SANZAR stated that it had named these match referees with regard to the feedback of Super Rugby coaches. Super Rugby has a tradition of sharing refereeing standards with the executive body. The body evaluates the performance of the match officials and announces the best referees to conduct play-offs.
Talking to reporter after the selection, SANZAR game manger, Lyndon Bray, said that the organization had tried its level best to name the most trustworthy people for the play-offs. He further said that, “It was really pleasing that our selections were confirmed by the feedback received from the coaches. We took into consideration the form of each referee throughout the 21 weeks of competition, and then considered the best 'fit' for the Finals Series.”
Bray added that, “In terms of the four selected, I am delighted for each of them, as they have all worked incredibly hard to deliver the best possible outcomes for the teams and the game in this competition.”
Super Rugby has seen many blunders by referees in the round matches, including the Reds and Crusaders clash, but SANZAR is hopeful to conduct the remaining matches in a transparent manner.
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