Sharks and Bryce Lawrence again
SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby) has announced the referees for the semifinals of the Super 14.
They are Stuart Dickinson of Australia and Bryce Lawrence of New Zealand.
Dickinson will referee the all-New Zealand semifinal between the Crusaders and the Hurricanes in Christchurch.
Lawrence will referee the Sydney semifinal between the Waratahs and the Sharks, something of a surprise appointment as he and the Sharks had serious differences when he refereed the round-robin match between the Sharks and the Brumbies in Canberra earlier in the tournament.
The Sharks raced into a 13-0 lead and later extended that to 18-7, but eventually went down 21-27 – with a lot of murmurs coming from the Sharks camp about the officiating of Lawrence, who certainly allowed himself to be distracted by the Sharks’ constant questioning of his decisions.
For the sake of the semifinal and the game in general, one can only hope that the Sharks and Lawrence keep their composure this time.
The full list of match officials is:
Crusaders v Hurricanes at AMI Stadium in Christchurch
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referees: Matt Goddard (Australia), Paul Marks (Australia)
TMO: Geoff Acton (Australia)
Waratahs v Sharks at Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
