Sharks coach Sean Everitt and Stormers coach John Dobson have both aired their concerns that their respective teams are not getting a fair reward from northern-hemisphere referees for their dominance at scrums and mauls.
In the immediate aftermath of the Stormers’ 19-17 loss to Connacht in Galway, a match officiated by Scottish referee Ben Blain, Dobson was vocal about his side’s frustration over how scrums and mauls were blown.
The Stormers appeared to have dominance in both departments, but struggled to earn any penalties as Blain allowed for more of an open contest.
This has once again shed light on the difference between local and international referees in interpreting the law.
In the buildup to Friday’s home game against Welsh side Scarlets at Kings Park, which will also be officiated by Scotland’s Sam Grove-White, Everitt was asked about Dobson’s comments on officiating in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.
“We have regular feedback with Tappe Henning, who is now the manager of the refereeing in the competition and he will be visiting South Africa in the next two weeks,” said Everitt.
“He will be sitting down with us and we will be raising our concerns and he will be highlighting the areas that they have been looking at.
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t time between the Currie Cup and the URC to sort all these matters out.
“We may feel that we were hard done by, but it also is not that way – it was more the interpretation that was slightly different.
“We would like the South African teams to get more reward in that area, but at the same time we got to be squeaky clean as well and stick to the laws of the game and adapt to the interpretations of the referees. At the end of the day I wouldn’t say the refs aren’t blowing the law, I’m just saying that they are interpreting the law a little bit differently.”
The Stormers will also host a European team this weekend when they take on Italian side Zebre in Stellenbosch on Sunday. The match will be handled by Welshman Adam Jones.
On Wednesday, Dobson added further clarity on his thoughts on refereeing in the competition.
“I probably said too much last week,” said Dobson. “I did promise Tappe some element of confidentiality.
“I think you saw in the Connacht game that there was a lack of contest [in lineout mauls and scrums], which you see in South African derbies. We see them as northern-hemisphere referees whereas they see them as neutral from separate countries.
“We had some issues about how much of a contest the maul and scrum areas were in South Africa in the local derbies, compared to what we saw in those games with referees in that last round [in the northern hemisphere].
“It didn’t only apply to us, so that is something we are trying to iron out because South Africans by nature contest very hard at set pieces.
“Everything is contested in South African rugby and you got some other teams who see scrums just as a restart.”
United Rugby Championship refereeing appointments
Friday, 11 March 2022
Sharks vs Scarlets Rugby at Kings Park, Durban – 7:10pm
Referee: Sam Grove-White
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Morne Ferreira
TMO: Adam Jones
Saturday, 12 March 2022
Vodacom Bulls vs Munster at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria – 4:05pm
Referee: Ben Whitehouse
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Griffin Colby
TMO: Quinton Immelman
Sunday, 13 March 2022
Lions vs Cardiff at Ellis Park, Johannesburg – 4pm
Referee: Chris Busby
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Griffin Colby
TMO: Ben Whitehouse
Stormers vs Zebre Parma at Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch – 6:05pm
Referee: Adam Jones
Assistant referees: Marius van der Westhuizen, Morne Ferreira
TMO: Sam Grove-White
Photo: Alfio Guarise/LiveMedia/NurPhoto via Getty Images
