Legoete possibly to be stood down
South African Super Rugby referee Pro Legoete may well be stood down from the last round of Super Rugby 2011.
Legoete’s problem arises from his advice to the referee, Craig Joubert, that lock Pat O’Connor of the Waratahs had headbutted a Bull 15 minutes from the end of their match at Loftus Versfeld last Saturday. On Legoete’s word, O’Connor was red-carded but later exonerated by the SANZAR disciplinary committee chaired by Judge Jannie Lubbe.
Legoete is not appointed to any matches this weekend (Round 17) but is the chief assistant referee in Round 18 when the Cheetahs play the Stormers in Bloemfontein.
Super Rugby matches are reviewed via a conference call on the Monday following the weekend’s matches and their are other reports on each match. The task then falls to SANZAR’s game manager, Lyndon Bray, a New Zealander now resident in Sydney, a former Test referee.
Bray told The Australian: “We reviewed the game on Monday night [Australian time when the conference call takes place, Monday morning in South Africa] and clearly the decision was wrong.
“There are two aspects which are frustrating. The description of the event was not very accurate. The process between the referee and the assistant referee was not good. It never fleshed out the details of the incident.
“I’ve spoken to Craig Joubert about how he could have handled it better, to get better information on which to base his decision. Craig was very disappointed he ended up with that decision.”
Even though Legoete reported O’Connor for a headbutt, he initially indicated he did not consider it a red-card offence. Bray believed that this was a signal that Legoete had not communicated the nature of the offence accurately. More detail should have been asked for in order to get the full facts. From the television evidence a headbutt is not obvious as O’Connor drives into a heap of players.
Bray added: “Referees are prone to make mistakes all the time. What we don’t want is a mistake to be compounded by a process that is not good. An experienced referee’s job is to pick up on messages he is getting. When Pro said no to a red card, clearly there was a message in that.
“It’s difficult in the heat of the moment. Craig believed he was dealing with a headbutt. If they had talked through what happened, maybe they would have come up with a different outcome.”
Bray is to consult the SANZAR referees selectors and South Africa’s referee administrators to decide whether or not Legoete should be stood down. Should he be stood down, it will not by any men as be a first in Super Rugby in recent times.
