Two referees 'stood down'
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:47
Two of SANZAR's panel of referees will not be getting appointments to Super 14 matches until they have made improvements to their performances.
The two are Paul Marks of Australia and Pro Legoete of South Africa.
In this year's Super 14, Marks has refereed two matches - Hurricanes against the Lions and Waratahs versus Sharks.
Legoete refereed the second half of Sharks against the Cheetahs, when he came on for Jonathan Kaplan who was unwell, and then Cheetahs versus Highlanders.
The temptation is to say that Marks was being penalised for the Kurtley Beale incident, when many believed he should have awarded a penalty try.
However, Lyndon Bray of New Zealand, who is the manager of the referees in the Super 14, said of the Marks decision: "Paul has been 'stood down', to work on some management versus technical issues. It is not all about that one decision!"
On the Legoete decision he says: "In the same way Pro Legoete is not currently in the draw and is looking at working on his accuracy at scrum and tackle."
At the moment the two referees, like players out of form, will not be chosen as referees in Super 14 matches and their return is dependent on how well they eliminate their weaknesses - and get back into form.
They will be given help to improve.
This is not new to refereeing, but usually it has not been noised abroad.
Bray said: "We are trying to be 'transparent' and open in the way we handle referees, as teams have to be with players."