Watson says Jonker was right to flag

Referee Marius Jonker has been much criticised for flagging Anton Leonard on Friday night but Andre Watson, South Africa’s referee manager, and Paddy O’Brien, the International Rugby Board’s referee manager, have both supported Jonker’s action.

The incident occurred late in the first half of the match between the Bulls and the Western Force in Pretoria. At a tackle/ruck Anton Leonard of the Bulls lifted Gareth Hardy of the Western Force by his legs so that his body was pointed vertically to the ground. Leonard released Hardy who fell with his head and neck on prone players beneath him and then landed on his back on the ground.

The referee, Chris Pollock of New Zealand, did not penalise Leonard and in fact appeared to wave play on, but Jonker, who was the touch judge, flagged Leonard. Play went on and it seemed that the Bulls had a good chance of scoring a try after Akona Ndungane intercepted a Force pass. But Pollock blew his whistle and went to consult Jonker.

Jonker reported Leonard’s action but said that he did not have his number. Keith Brown, the other touch judge, identified the number as Number 6 – Leonard’s number.

The referee asked Jonker for his recommendation and Jonker recommended a yellow card. The referee then sent Leonard to the sin bin and penalised the Bulls. Cameron Shepherd goaled the subsequent penalty.

On Monday Watson issued a statement saying:

1. The touch judge has an obligation to point out incidents of Foul play, as required by Law 10 which deals with Foul Play.

2. The IRB states in the aide memoire of November 2006 on page 5 of 11 under dangerous play and misconduct, that “dangerous tackles should be treated at the upper end of foul play scale.” (red card and work down, not reverse)

3. The IRB further refers under ruling 5 of 2005:

a. 1. The act of lifting an opponent off his feet in a tackle AND dropping or ‘spearing’ that player so that his head and/or upper body comes into contact with the ground first, is a dangerous tackle.

2. The dangerous play described in 1. above is considered dangerous play no matter where it occurs in the game.

4. The touch judge has an obligation, under instruction for the International Rugby Board, to point these incidents out whether the referee has seen it or not. The referee has the authority to overrule any touch judge input or recommendation.

We find it indeed sad that certain media actually suggest that the touch judge should not have brought the incident to the attention of the referee. That would have been neglecting his duty. There is an expectation for match officials to identify, report and sanction incidents of foul play. We find certain comments made that the touch judge should not have called the incident from 40m when a referee was only 3m away, irrelevant. All touch judges adjudicate from the touch line and a suggestion that 40m is too far is ridiculous. The incident was an act of foul play and the touch judge was required to rule on fact and not intent or whether the referee had seen it or not.

It is further sad to note that the touch judge is criticised when in fact he was 100% correct. Criticism of referees when they have acted incorrectly or made mistakes is acceptable, but not when they are correct.

We have an obligation as South African Referees to send the correct message to all supporters of rugby and do not wish to create the impression that the above-mentioned incident was not worthy of being brought to the attention of the referee. All stakeholders in rugby, players, coaches, referees, administrators, media and supporters have to contribute to a safe game and not condone or down play acts of dangerous play.

The ‘IRB Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien stated that had Jonker not reported the incident he would have been failing in one of his primary duties as touch judge in that he MUST report Foul Play.

“It has been made quite clear to all coaches players and referees that when a player is lifted in the air it is the responsibility of the tackler to bring him to the ground safely. Any breaches of this are to be treated on the serious side of the foul play scale by referees and the action taken by the officials in Saturday’s match was 100 per cent correct.”