Why blundering ref was not axed
REACTION: New Zealand’s National Referee Manager Bryce Lawrence has fronted up following the referees’ round three review to discuss some of the big calls from the past weekend.
A yellow card to Brad Weber in the Crusaders v Chiefs clash and a controversial forward pass decision to deny Blues centre Rieko Ioane a try against the Highlanders were the two decisions that Lawrence addressed in a video released by Super Rugby Aotearoa on social media.
Lawrence confirmed that both calls were incorrect on review and that referees would continue to get better each week and learn from mistakes made on or off the field.
“Our accountability is exactly the same as players,” Lawrence said.
“We don’t drop people of one poor perfoprmance or one bad mistake. We look at all the good things they do and then we try and get better each week.
“I totally support them [the match officials] and I’m sure they’ll bounce back.
“They’re experienced and proven to be really successful at Test level and doing some great stuff at Super Rugby, we just need to be better this weekend,” he added.
Source: @SuperRugbyNZ
