Super Rugby's Refs for 2016
Of the 22, nine are new to Super Rugby refereeing. In fact two are fairly new to refereeing. Mind you, they are both former scrumhalves who are often the most vociferous referees on the field. They are Jamie Nutbrown and Nic Berry, both of whom played Super Rugby – Nutbrown for the Crusaders and Berry for the Reds. They are clearly following on the excellent path of Glen Jackson.
Also new to the squad are referees from Argentina and Japan, one from each country, Federico Anselmi and Shuhei Kubo.
The referees new to Super Rugby are Anselmi, Berry, William Houston, Quinton Immelman, Kubo, Nutbrown, Brendon Pickerill, Rasta Rasivhenge and Paul Williams.
The only referees who were on last year's squad and are not back there are Jason Jaftha, who has had to contend with long absences through injuries, Matt O'Brien and Steve Walsh who has given up refereeing.
This year there are six more referees than there were in the Super Rugby squad in 2015 but then there are more teams this year with the inclusion of the Sunwolves, the Jaguares and the Eastern Province Kings. There were also be longer journeys for referees.
SA Rugby's General Manager Rassie Erasmus was happy with Rasivhenge and Immelman's inclusion.
"The inclusion of Rasta and Quinton on the Super Rugby panel is just reward for the hard work they have been putting in over the last few years and I can't wait to see them make their debut in the best provincial competition in the world," said Erasmus.
"We've always produced referees of the highest calibre and the Super Rugby panel is further proof of that. Craig and Jaco are two of the most experienced referees in the world and will raise the bar even further this year, while Stuart, Marius and Jaco are three of the best up-and-coming match officials in the game.
"The work done by our very own Referees Department has not gone unnoticed and it’s great to know South Africa is still at the fore when it comes to producing the best match officials for world rugby."
Super Rugby referees:
Argentina: Federico Anselmi
Australia: Nic Berry, Angus Gardner, Rohan Hoffmann, William Houston and Andrew Lees.
Japan: Shuhei Kubo
New Zealand: Nick Briant, Mike Fraser, Glen Jackson, Jamie Nutbrown, Brendon Pickerill, Chris Pollock, Ben O'Keeffe and Paul Williams.
South Africa: Stuart Berry, Quinton Immelman, Craig Joubert, Jaco Peyper, Rasta Rasivhenge, Marius van der Westhuizen and Jaco van Heerden.
2016 Super Rugby Referees' Stats
Federico Anselmi (Argentina – 0 Super Rugby, 7 Tests)*
Nic Berry (Australia – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Stuart Berry (South Africa – 21 Super Rugby, 5 Tests)
Nick Briant (New Zealand – 25 Super Rugby, 2 Tests)
Mike Fraser (New Zealand – 23 Super Rugby, 4 Tests)
Angus Gardner (Australia – 26 Super Rugby, 5 Tests)
Rohan Hoffmann (Australia – 26 Super Rugby, 3 Tests)
William Houston (Australia – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Quinton Immelman (South Africa – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Glen Jackson (New Zealand – 41 Super Rugby, 16 Tests)
Craig Joubert (South Africa – 93 Super Rugby, 64 Tests)
Shuhei Kubo (Japan – 0 Super Rugby, 6 Tests)*
Andrew Lees (Australia – 22 Super Rugby, 2 Tests)
Jamie Nutbrown (New Zealand – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand – 5 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)
Jaco Peyper (South Africa – 59 Super Rugby, 29 Tests)
Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Chris Pollock (New Zealand – 70 Super Rugby, 22 Tests)
Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa – 9 Super Rugby, 1 Test)
Jaco van Heerden (South Africa – 6 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)
Paul Williams (New Zealand – 0 Super Rugby, 0 Tests)*
* Denotes a new squad member in 2016
Photo: Jamie Nutbrown
