SA refs prepare
The South African referees organised their annual camps at Konka near Rustenburg this year. The first of these camps were for referees on the top two panels and was a huge success.
Konka is on the banks of a river amidst the Magaliesburg mountains - essentially a game farm of some 249 hectares.
Apart from the joys of a game farm in the lush, green bushveld, there are wonderful facilities - a rugby field which hosted the national schools sevens, a big hall, the river for boating and so on, a chapel for weddings and chalets dotted about the property. It is set up as a sporting and conference venue.
For this course the emphasis was above all on the two most contentious areas of the game - the tackle and scrummaging. It also dealt with creating space (off-side), the maul and obstruction, the line-out (the receiver and peeling off), the relationship between referees and coaches and using card sanctions at dangerous tackles. (We shall deal with all of these individually.)
There was also room for fun activities - foefie slide over the river, boating with a blind-folded oarsmen and cox, touch rugby, and other games calculated to get the referees working and laughing together.
There was also a psychologist who worked in groups or with individuals.
The first group to gather for a conference were the SA Referees staff, the executive committee and the council members who are the chairmen of the 14 provincial societies.
SA Referees staff: Andre Watson, Tappe Henning, Dana Eitzen, Lettie Coetzee
Executive: Keith Hendricks (Boland), Douglas Holwill (Western Province), Mninimzi Plaatjie (Eastern Province), Steve Meintjes (chairman)
Council Members: Engela Pretorius (Border), Gerhard Roodt (Blue Bulls), Frans Muller (Eastern Province), Albert Mocke (Free State), Braam Coetzee (South Western Districts), Alfred Ross (Valke), Dan de Villiers (Western Province), Kat Swanepoel (Griquas), Louis van Huyssteen (Golden Lions), Steve Britz (Pumas), Christo van Heerden (Leopards), Jan Pienaar (Griffons), Andre Lourens (KwaZulu Natal).
They met on Sunday and then the referees arrived together with the selectors. The two panels of referees who attended were the National Panel and the Provincial Panel. (They were two fewer with the resignations of François Veldsman and Luke Burger.)
Selectors: Arrie Schoonwinkel (Free State), Willie Roos (Golden Lions), Thuso Mngqibisa (Western Province), Banks Yantolo (Border), Dennis Immelman (Western Province), Balie Swart, the former Springbok prop who is above all a scrum doctor.
National Panel: Jonathan Kaplan (Western Province), Mark Lawrence (Pumas), Marius Jonker (KwaZulu Natal), Craig Joubert (KwaZulu Natal), Jaco Peyper (Free State), Stuart Berry (KwaZulu Natal), Pro Legoete (Golden Lions), Sindile Mayende (KwaZulu Natal), Lourens van der Merwe (Free State), Jason Jaftha (South Western Districts), Joey Salmans (Western Province).
Provincial Panel: Tiaan Jonker (Golden Lions), Rasta Rashivenga (Golden Lions), Archie Sehlako (KwaZulu Natal), Ben Crouse (KwaZulu Natal), Quinton Immelman (Western Province), Mlungiseli Mdashe (Valke), François Groenewald (Western Province), Matt Kemp (Western Province), Dilbert November (South Western Districts), Lusanda Jam (Border), Luke Burger (Blue Bulls), Gerrie de Bruin (Blue Bulls), Marius van der Westhuizen (Western Province).
Reserve Provincial Panel: Stefan Geldenhuys (Blue Bulls), who is actually the highest rated referee on the Contenders Squad.
The second group was smaller - staff, women's panel and the specialised assistant referees.
Women's Panel: Roslyn Fortuin (Boland), Eugenia Daniels (Western Province), Sanet Ludick (Leopards), Renee Daniell (Blue Bulls), Eska Claassen (South Western Districts), Magda van der Heever (Pumas), Hencilla Oersen (South Western Districts), Siphokazi Njani (Border), Ilana Scholtz (Golden Lions), Melany Duthie (Boland).
Assistant Referees Panel: Johann Greeff (Blue Bulls), Marc van Zyl (Western Province), Reuben Rossouw (KwaZulu Natal), Linston Manuels (Boland), Cobus Wessels (South Western Districts), Stefan Breytenbach (Pumas), Phillip Bosch (Eastern Province), Christie du Preez (Eastern Province), Fumanekile Yamile (Eastern Province).
Executive: member: Keith Hendricks (Boland)
Staff: Andre Watson, Tappe Henning, Dana Eitzen, Lettie Coetzee
