Aussie refs for semis

Australian referees, Stuart Dickinson and Matt Goddard, will referee the semi-finals of the 2007 Super 14. Both matches are between South African and New Zealand teams in South Africa.

The match officials for each match will be Australian, in accordance with SANZAR’s policy of appointing unattached referees.

Dickinson will be in Durban for the match between the Sharks and the Blues while Goddard will be in Pretoria when the Bulls meet the Crusaders.

On Sunday, the Crusaders coach Robbie Deans expressed the hope that merit rather than neutrality would decide the referee appointments. He said: “We were assured that would happen and we said our preference was that the best referees would referee more frequently and that especially at the death, the best would be in charge. Neutrality was not an issue for us. The bloke who will feel the atmosphere most will be the referee.

“We would be perfectly happy with South African referees.”

Earlier in the Super 14 Dickinson had been much criticised by David Nucifora, the Blues’ coach, after the Sharks had beaten the Blues in Albany. Before that Eddie Jones had been fined for criticising referee Matt Goddard in public.

Recently the IRB announced the referees for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Dickinson was the only Australian on the panel of referees while Paul Marks was the only one on the panel of touch judges.

The match officials for the Super 14 semi-finals are:

Sharks vs Blues at ABSA Stadium, Durban
Referee: Stuart Dickinson
Touch judges: James Leckie, James Scholtens
Television match official: Geoff Acton
Assessor: Arrie Schoonwinkel (South Africa)

Bulls vs Crusaders at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Referee: Matt Goddard
Touch judges: Paul Marks, Brett Bowden
Television match official: Julian Pritchard
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)

The Durban match will kick off at 15.00, the Pretoria match at 17.30, both local times.