Well, what a quiet weekend it was last week… Let’s see if this week can drum up the same! Romain Poite takes charge of the deciding Lions test against the All Blacks. Will he manage to keep 15 v 15, or will player indiscipline lead him to similar outcomes to his compatriot Jerome Garces? Fingers crossed for a non-controversial outcome.
Nick Briant heads over to Tonga to referee the Pacific Island derby which doubles up as a Rugby World Cup Qualifier. And it’s the penultimate weekend of the regular Super Rugby season as the teams battle for the final positions ahead of the qualifiers, the semi finals and the final. In Pretoria, Boli Anselmi of Argentina is on his travels as he whistles the Bulls v Kings. Brendon Pickerill is up first though with the all-Australian clash between the Reds and Brumbies on Friday night. Will Houston looks after the other all-Aussie Force v Rebels clash and in Cape Town, Quinton Immelman will observe to see if the home side chases points to improve their potential wild card position.
Lions Series
New Zealand v British & Irish Lions
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Refereees (ARs): Jérôme Garcès (France) & Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Television match official (TMO): George Ayoub (Australia)
Rugby World Cup Qualifier
Super Rugby
Western Force v Melbourne Rebels
Referee: Will Houston (Aus)
ARs: Graham Cooper (Aus) & Damon Murphy (Aus)
TMO: Damien Mitchelmore (Australia)
Queensland Reds v Brumbies
Referee: Brendon Pickerill (NZ)
ARs: Nic Berry (NZ) & Rohan Hoffmann (Aus)
TMO: Ian Smith (Aus)
NSW Waratahs v Jaguares
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ)
ARs: Angus Gardner (Aus) & Jordan Way (Aus)
TMO: Ian Smith (Aus)
Bulls v Kings
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Arg)
ARs: Marius van der Westhuizen (SA) & Rasta Rasivhenge (SA)
TMO: Johan Greeff (SA)
Stormers v Sunwolves
Referee: Quinton Immelman (SA)
ARs: Shuhei Kubo (Japan) & AJ Jacobs (SA)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Just because they lost doesn’t mean you have to sack half of the best referees in the world , or demote to a lower pay grade , and yes they are the best in the world ,sometimes there are difficult decisions to be made and the Vidio ref sorts it out . When it is so important rugby and cricket have the systems in place only multi million pound football lets a referee take a decision that can change the club/ league and financial support to an unlucky club !!