White card appeal in Stellenbosch
At the final of the Varsities Cup between the University of Stellenbosch and the University of Cape Town an experiment was made with a white card.
Red and yellow are disciplinary cards; the white card was for a captain to appeal to the referee.
The captain of each team was allowed two appeals, one in each half. The referee showed that this was happening by brandishing a white card.
The procedure was that the captain of a team could request an appeal. The referee would then gather the import of the appeal and relay it to the television match official who would examine the evidence and give his findings to the referee.
If the appeal was turned down, the referee’s decision would stand. If he allowed an appeal he would act on it.
There were two appeals during the match, one in each half, both from the University of Cape Town’s captain JJ Gagiano. He thus made history of sorts.
In the first half he asked that the referee, Lourens van der Merwe of the Free State, consider punching by a Stellenbosch flank Zandré Jordaan. The TMO, Shaun Veldsman, South Africa’s most experienced TMO, found that Jordaan had indeed punched an opponent and the referee penalised him.
In the second half Cape Town were leading 10-6 when Stellenbosch fullback Joe Pietersen. Cape Town bungled and Stellenbosch scrumhalf Wilhelm Koch latched onto the ball and raced away for a try. Gagiano then played his second card and complained that there had been Stellenbosch players within 10 metres of the place where the ball had bounced, that they had not retreated and that they had had a material effect on play. Again the TMO upheld the appeal and the try was disallowed, replaced instead by a penalty kick to Cape Town.
South Africa’s manager of referees, André Watson said that the experiment was in the interests of “getting the call right”. He also said that a report on the matter would be sent to the International Rugby Board.
Captains may need some help if the white card is introduced and one can foresee a coach having a law expert next to him to prompt him so that he can prompt the captain so that he can appeal to the referee so that he can consult the TMO.
