Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'Not a single guy and England has got four': Ex-Bok coaches give raw views on RWC referees

Referee Jaco Peyper speaks with England's Owen Farrell in March when he last refereed in Dublin (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Two former Springbok coaches have given their differing views on the 12 referees appointed to officiate the Rugby World Cup later this year in France.

ADVERTISEMENT

The list of selected whistle blowers include four England referees, two Australian, two New Zealanders, one Frenchman, one South African, one Irishman and one Georgian.

Former Bok head coach Nick Mallett didn’t have any problems with the list saying that many of them have previous World Cup experience to fall back on.

Video Spacer
Video Spacer

“No not all, I think those are very experienced referees,” Mallett said.

“I see there are five from the Southern Hemisphere and seven from the Northern Hemisphere.

“The World Cup is in the Northern Hemisphere. That’s probably not favouritism, that’s the state of referees at the moment.

“I think we’ve got four or five who were there last time. Wayne Barnes, Nic Berry was there, Andrew Brace was there, I think Angus Gardner was there, Luke Pearce and Jaco Peyper.

“There is a lot of experience.”

However, former Springbok assistant and Lions head coach Swys de Bruin had a stronger view that there wasn’t enough of a spread among the playing nations.

ADVERTISEMENT

The experienced Jaco Peyper was the only South African referee selected while nations like Scotland, Wales and Italy received none.

“It’s very important to know it works, how they select these guys,” de Bruin said.

“There is a guy called Joel Judge, he’s the convenor of selectors and he’s assisted by Bryce Lawrence from New Zealand and then Tony Spreadbury from England.

“There’s more on the panel but these three, according to my sources, they dictate who is doing what.

“So that’s why there is four guys from England in this 12, they might be the best, but I’ll come to that.

ADVERTISEMENT

“There is four guys from New Zealand and Australia, and we all know Bryce Lawerence, you know the experience we had in this country with him.

“In saying that the favouritism is definitely not with some of the sides.

“The URC coaches, there is only three of them in that panel. Scotland, Italy and Wales got nothing. Not a single guy and England has got four.

“My concern is if you had 20 teams in the World Cup and you ranked them [referees] one through 12, surely it’s everyone’s game.

“Let one guy be from each of these countries on merit, so that you involve everyone.

“For me it is distorted picture slightly, the spread at the World Cup is not so well.”

Despite only having one referee selected, Bruin viewed it as a success for the programme with other South Africans involved as assistants and in the Sevens programme.

“From our point of view, from Mark Lawrence [SARU referee manager] and Rassie and our guys who control it in South Africa, they’ve done very well,” he said.

“They’ve got Jaco Peyper up there, they’ve got Marius Jonker as the TMO, Aimee Barrett and two Sevens guys.

“So our picture, being a small little country in rugby in their opinion, on the southern end of Africa, we are not too shabby.”

ADVERTISEMENT

South Africa v British & Irish Lions | 2009 | Second Test | The Vaults

Matches 27 - 28 | Rugby Premier League | Full Day Replay

Hyderabad Heroes vs Delhi Redz | Match 28 | Rugby Premier League | Full Match Replay

England XV v France XV | Full Match Replay

"The Opportunity Of A Lifetime" | Wallabies All In: Episode 1

Are these the best ever Lions performances?

Pollock Loses Bill, Players Meet Their Roommates & Training in Portugal | Ep 1: The Ultimate Test

Top 10 inspiring Lions speeches

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

6 Comments
A
Andy 772 days ago

Surely it is about having the best referees to do the job! Makes absoluteley no difference where they come from unless you are implying that they are not impartial!!??

J
Jen 773 days ago

We just need fair and accurate refereeing - I don’t care where it comes from.

B
BeeJay 774 days ago

After his appalling performance at the weekend in the Saracens v Northampton match, Karl Dickson shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a whistle ever again let alone a World Cup.

S
SK 774 days ago

I think he is right. You have to have a more representative world cup refereeing team. You cant tell me there isnt one decent referee from Scotland and Wales. I think its crazy that only 12 referees are front line referees when you have as many as 48 games in a world cup

J
Jmann 774 days ago

nahh - pick the best. Once those 2 or 3 are chosen, you still need a few more. Definitely don't go own the 'diversity' route. That top 12 already has too much weakness in it.

J
Jmann 774 days ago

Disgraceful comments. The simple fact is that there are probably only 5 or 6 decent refs in the world today and SA has none of them.


It's good to see the French refs being sidelined after a few years of poor performance now. Keeping Raynal is appalling

Load More Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
Jfp123 4 hours ago
Are Bordeaux-Begles, not Toulouse, the future of French rugby?

Really, do you really mean that? I guess you’re a supporter of UBB. Jalibert

1) doesn’t play well with France’s best 9

2) has an approx 50% tackle success rate this year at int. and club level, Rassie would be rubbing his hands with glee as he plots to exploit that!

3) is another player his teammates would have to cover for in defence, when they already have Penaud, and arguably, Ramos under the high ball, to cope with, unless you’re proposing to drop Penaud. Whereas in attack France were scoring with or without him in the last 6 nations, 200 points when he wasn’t on the pitch so why do they need him?

3) plays at 10 only, so rules out the v successful 7/1 bench when he’s playing

4) has a questionable temperament, see WC 1/4 final

5) has a v poor record in a great team at int. level. In his last 5 matches, loss v SA, heavy loss v Ireland, win by highly controversial try v Scotland, draw v Italy, loss v England.


Whereas Ntamack and Ramos both play fabulously with Dupont and Ntamack adapted seamlessly when Lucu took over from Dupont v Ireland; Ntamack has a v high tackle success rate, tackles more often and jackals; Ntamack 10 and 12 internationally, Ramos 10 and 15 - both have played with 7/1 bench; both Ntamack and Ramos superb big match temperament, scoring when it counts; France has been flying high when they’re playing.


If Jalibert played for a nation struggling to score with a strong defence, he might be worth a pick, but he plays for France.

Also, lately I’m wondering if he’s quite so effective in attack as some people seem to believe. He is certainly good and has the flashy moves, but look at the Top14 stats, they suggest his game management isn’t quite what it should be. If I’m picking a fantasy team I sink my money on the wings, as they score most. Jalibert is playing with the two top wings in France, arguably the world, his scrum half is France’s best with Dupont injured for most of the season, the other backs and the forwards are all top class, but that isn’t reflected in the stats. Points for ST 891, UBB 762; Points ag ST 462, UBB 609; points diff 429 v 153, and that’s when for much of the season, the ST player in the crucial 9 position, with the best will in the world is pretty average, and can’t be rated among the top 6 in the Top14.


If Galthier picks Jalibert again, I’ll know his head’s fallen off! Allez les blues!

236 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Where to watch the Lions, World Rugby U20s and more this weekend Where to watch the Lions, World Rugby U20s and more this weekend
Search