Three new refs in Super 14
Saving the best wine till last? In the last round of the 2008 Super 14 four referees will officiate who have a total of one Super 14 rugby match amongst them and that one was in 2007.
The referees are Nathan Pearce of Australia, Keith Brown of New Zealand and Phillip Bosch of South Africa. Bosch is the one with previous experience.
Nathan Pearce will be the first one in action when the Brumbies play the Western Force in Perth. Originally he was bracketed with Paul Marks for the game but neither of the teams now has a chance of getting into the semifinals and the match takes on its own identity as an enthusiastic Australian derby. On Monday he was told that he would in fact be refereeing the match with Marks as an assistant to help him.
Pearce comes from Bathurst in New South Wales and is a member of the NSW Referees’ Association. His breakthrough came in 2003 when he refereed the final of the Australian Rugby Shield between Perth Gold and the Queensland Country Heelers and was much praised for his performance.
Now he is an Australian Rugby Union referee, schooled in Sydney’s tough club competition, Australia’s provincial competitions. in the Super 14 as a touch judge and as a television match official. and in Pacific Nations Tests as a touch judge.
He actually took a chance to get the match. He was offered a choice – two appointments as an assistant referee in South Africa or the chance of refereeing in Perth should the two teams be out of contention for the semifinals. He said: “I took the gamble and it paid off.”
Keith Brown, an Invercargill lawyer, will also referee his first Super 14 match when he referees the match between the Crusaders and the Highlanders in Christchurch. Like the Perth match, the outcome will not have a future bearing on the competition as the Crusaders will end top of the Super 14 regardless of what happens. But, like the match in Perth, there will be a lot of pride riding on the match. The Highlanders have had a bumpy season but were outplayed only twice – by the Bulls and the Blues. Their young men will want to rock the Crusader boat – as the Reds did in Brisbane last week. Victory for the men from the deep south must be only a remote possibility.
As Pearce will have Paul Marks with him, so Brown will have experienced Kelvin Deaker with him as an assistant.
Like Pearce, Brown has acted an assistant referee and as a TMO in Super 14, including on a trip to South Africa. He has had a great deal of experience in New Zealand’s provincial championship and at the IRB’s World Under-19 Championship.
On 7 June 2008 he will referee his first Test match – Fiji versus Samoa in the Pacific Nations Cup. He will also referee the match between Samoa and Australia A in Apia in the same competition.
The Super 14 match will be the first time he has refereed under the experimental law variations. Then he will revert to the “old laws” for the Test.
Last year lawyer Brown and medical doctor Jonathon White of Auckland became professional referees in New Zealand.
Phillip Bosch last year refereed the Super 14 match, when the Lions played the Cheetahs. This year he will referee the match between the Bulls and the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein. Like the matches in Perth and Christchurch the outcome of the match will not affect the future of the 2008 Super 14 but, like those other two matches, it will be keenly contested.
Like Pearce and Brown, he was excited when he got the phonecall to tell him that he had been appointed to the match. André Watson and Theuns Naudé of South African referees phoned him to tell him. Immediately he went off to tell those close to him – his wife, the chairman of Eastern Province Referees, Frans Muller, Mr McLeod the principal of the Charlow Primary School where he teaches, his friend Hendrik Janse van Rensburg, his brothers and sisters. “And I obviously got down on my knees to thank the Lord for affording me this great opportunity.”
“Everybody’s very excited and wishing me luck for the game. The kids at school are always very interested in what’s happening next for me. They always ask me to ‘Please let the team we support win, sir’.”
The special part of his preparation was done overseas. He went as assistant referee to Mark Lawrence in Brisbane. “Over there we worked on a couple of strategies. On the way back we hooked up with Jonathan Kaplan and Marius Jonker and they also shared their experiences and views with me.
“The only extra thing I have done is to prepare myself mentally as everything else will be fine.”
Also there to lend a hand have been Bosch’s coach Jacques Hugo and Neville Heilbron. “These preparations were mainly about my approach and sharpness when it comes to game time.”
Like Brown, Bosch has been the IRB’s Under-19 World Championship. Next month he will be refereeing in Wales at the inaugural Under-20 World Championship.
Bosch said: “It’s every referee’s dream to officiate in any Super 14 game. Being in the middle is always very special.”
