Kaplan, the itinerant referee
Have whistle, will travel
Referees at the top are a peripatetic lot, none quite as peripatetic as Jonathan Kaplan who lives in Cape Town occasionally and now is in Auckland.
Kaplan is in Auckland to referee the second Test in the series between New Zealand and Ireland.
It is June, the half-way mark of the year and already he is on his sixth trip abroad to referee. He has been tice to the Northern Hemisphere and four times to the Southern Hemisphere, more specifically four times to New Zealand. And it’s not over. Next month he will be back in New Zealand and the month after that he will be there again.
It does not leave much time for life in Cape Town with the people he loves.
When Andre Watson retired from refereeing, fit enough in every way to be able to carry on he gave as his reason the travelling required, being away from home for something like 250 days in a year. It’s hard on the body and hard on relationships. It is especially hard on South Africans, because of SANZAR requirements.
It is simply much easier for an English referee to hop over to France to referee or for a New Zealander to fly from Auckland to Sydney than it is for a South African to make the long journey for long stays in Australia or New Zealand.
The travelling is made as comfortable as possible. Domestically the referees travel economy class but going overseas they travel business class and they stay in really good hotels, comfortable places with good facilities, four-star places.
Jet lag? Kaplan says: “I listen to my body. When it wants to rest, I rest. When it wants food, I eat.
“I am not in a hurry to adjust to new times zones. I prefer to go gradual..
“On this trip I am there for just a week and am not sure that I will need to fit in with New Zealand time. I just have to be at my best at match time. I’m a bit of a night owl and so will be able to adjust.”
The problem with travel is also the toll it takes on focus and fitness. Kaplan says it “takes a chunk out of your sanity and fitness”.
“You have to pace yourself and focus on the job at hand. That includes not being too anxious to get back home.”
Eating is different. At home it is easier to follow a strict regime. Overseas one is in danger of eating whatever is available and just for something to do. “You have to be careful not to overeat.”
And how do you spend time? “I read and walk. I watch television and my computer is important to me. I have to get my mind away from rugby because you can sometimes get bombarded with not necessarily healthy information.”
The match between New Zealand and Ireland will be Kaplan’s 31st Test. It will be the third time he has refereed a match with Ireland in seven months. In fact it is the ninth time he will have refereed Ireland and the tenth time he will have refereed New Zealand. He had the teams in Dublin in November. Then he had Ireland again when they played Wales in the Six Nations.
Being so high up the tree, means that he gets top matches to referee. In the Super 14 this year those top matches included the Super 14 semi-final and final. The week before the semi-finals he had the Crusaders and the Brumbies with the Brumbies needing a bonus point to make the semis, and the week before that he had the Chiefs and the Waratahs with the Waratahs wanting a home semi.
It is a huge responsibility to the game and the competition.
He is aware of his responsibilities and the importance of getting the game moving. But then he did not get where he is by accident.
