Referee for Test replaced

Keith Brown of New Zealand was appointed to referee the Test in East London between South Africa and Italy, but he has withdrawn and is replaced by Andrew Small who refereed the first Test in the two-Test series.

Brown was down to do the first Test butt withdrew from that in the hope of recovering from his Achilles problem by giving it more time, but in his preparation for the East London Test he found that he had actually aggravated the injury and so withdrew after being treated during the week by the Springboks’ doctor, Craig Roberts. Unfortunately the response has not been good enough and rather than take a chance Brown decided to be fair to the match he would withdraw. He continues as an assistant referee to Small, a New Zealander living in England.

It is a great disappointment to Brown as it was to be an important Test in his career. His previous three Tests were Fiji vs Samoa, Samoa vs Papua New Guinea and Canada vs Japan.

The injury first flared up at Easter time but Brown got through the Super 14 without incident. He will now return to New Zealand and go into rehab.