Lawrence to referee the Currie Cup Final
Mark Lawrence will referee his first Currie Cup Final on 27 October 2007, JC Fortuin and Craig Joubert the semi-finals.
The semi-finals will be refereed by JC Fortuin and Craig Joubert.
Lawrence, who had an excellent Super 14 and has been a touch judge till recently at the World Cup, becomes only the 23rd referee to referee a Currie Cup Final since the first one in 1939 when the great Boy Louw was the referee. He is the first referee appointed to the Currie Cup Final from Mpumalanga, which once was South Eastern Transvaal which was once a part of Eastern Transvaal which was once a part of Transvaal.
The appointment of the referee for the final has been made early. As at the World Cup neither of the semi-final referees would referee the final and the early announcement removes tension amongst some and enables the referees appointed to focus on the job at hand.
Told on Monday in a phone conference with Andre Watson, Lawrence said: “I am thrilled at the appointment. It seems that I am joining an elite group of referees in the great Currie Cup tradition.
“It’s every South African referee’s dream to referee a Currie Cup Final and here it has come to me after 17 years of blood, sweat, tears, joy and fun.
“There are too many people to thank publicly but I’d like to record my thanks to my wife Griselle who has helped me through the good times and the bad times. The others I will thank personally in the course of time.”
Fortuin will referee the semi-final between the Sharks and the Lions in Durban while Craig Joubert will referee the other semi-final, between the Cheetahs and the Blue Bulls in Bloemfontein.
Jonathan Kaplan, who refereed the 2006 Final and Marius Jonker were not eligible for the appointment because of their on-going involvement in the Rugby World Cup.
Semi-final appointments in full:
Sharks vs Golden Lions at Absa Stadium, Durban
Referee: JC Fortuin (SARU)
Touch judges: Phillip Bosch (SARU), Cobus Wessels (Blue Bulls)
Television match official: Meuwesen (Eastern Province)
Cheetahs vs Blue Bulls at Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
Referee: Craig Joubert (SARU)
Touch judges: Deon van Blommestein (SARU), Louis Mzomba (Western Province)
In each case the first-mentioned touch judge is the reserve referee, the second one of the full-time touch judges, an appointment SA Referees made this year.
The list of referees in Currie Cup Finals
1939: Boy Louw
1946: Carl Basson
1947: Albie Henkes
1950: Eddie Hofmeyr
1952: Chris Ackermann
1954: Ralph Burmeister
1968: Bertie Strasheim
1969: Fonnie van der Vyver
1970: Ben Calitz
1971: Gert Bezuidenhout
1972: Piet Robbertse
1973: Piet Robertson
1974: Steve Strydom
1975: Justus Moolman
1976: Gert Bezuidenhout
1977: Jimmy Smith-Belton
1978: Gert Bezuidenhout
1979: Steve Strydom
1980: Steve Strydom
1981: Johan Gouws
1982: Steve Strydom
1983: Johan Gouws
1984: Cassie Carstens
1985: Steve Strydom
1986: Steve Strydom
1987: Freek Burger
1988: Jimmy Smith-Belton
1989: Jimmy Smith-Belton
1990: Freek Burger
1991: Freek Burger
1992: Freek Burger
1993: Freek Burger
1994: Stef Neethling
1995: Tappe Henning
1996: Andre Watson
1997: Andre Watson
1998: Andre Watson
1999: Andre Watson
2000: Andre Watson
2001: Andre Watson
2002: Jonathan Kaplan
2003: Shaun Veldsman
2004: Andre Watson
2005: Jonathan Kaplan
2006: Jonathan Kaplan
