She’s the boss
Upset about Makwala remark, but ‘silver’s a beautiful colour’
“WHAT do you know about rugby?”
That’s the most common comment referee Lusanda Mtiya, 35, gets from coaches, players and spectators when she’s on the field.
But former Springbok Mitya, the first female rugby referee in KwaZulu-Natal, says the critical requirements for a ref is to have a deep understanding of the laws of the game, be mentally tough and to maintain a high level of fitness. And she has all three in spades. “There are also players who try testing my knowledge of the law during a match as well. They will question me on points which they would never ask of a male referee.
“But I have the support of other referees who I have been learning from, as well as learning about sideline management,” she said.
Mtiya, who grew up in the Eastern Cape, also has extensive experience as a player, having started her career as a female rugby player where her versatility saw her playing as a utility back, centre, wing and fullback.
Once her schooling was completed, she came to Durban to attend the University of KwaZuluNatal where she completed a degree in sports science.
“I started playing at school for fun and when I went to university, they did not have athletics, so I played rugby.
“I went into refereeing in 2006 when I was playing at provincial level. I couldn’t be a referee and a player, so I gave up reffing for a while because I wanted to make it into the national team.
“My goal was to play just one match for the Springbok Women’s team, but I ended up playing eight matches in total,” said Mtiya.
After playing for the Springboks between 2011 and 2013, Mtiya went back to refereeing.
“I started doing it for fun, but then I started taking it more seriously and doing training courses. For referees, with new law variations, upskilling is an on-going process.”
For the first two years, she refereed locally, including at Craven Week, before going to her first provincial tournament in Port Elizabeth. She remembers the excitement of her first premier division game in May this year, when a referee was injured and she was called in as a replacement.
“It was Toti versus Varsity College and at first team club level it was an eye-opener for me. After that match, I felt I could ref any game,” she said.
She currently referees women’s provincial matches, will run touch in men’s provincial matches, and referees men and women’s club games. She works for KZN Women’s Rugby where she handles women’s rugby in the province.
“Generally, women are not contracted, so they tend to play for fun, while with men it is often more about winning.
“In KwaZulu-Natal, we have more than 300 ladies who play club rugby and in the under-16 and under-18 age groups combined, there are more than 1000 players.”
And as all referees know, a tough exterior shell needs to be developed against abuse from coaches, players and spectators.
“I had one particularly bad match where I wanted to give it all up,” she said. But by the time she got home, she had resolved not to let one match change her path.
“You have to be tough mentally, you are alone on the field.
“When I’m asked ‘what do you know about the game?’, I reply, ‘I do know I will be reffing the game’.
“If you have played rugby and then refereed, you have the advantage in that you recognise game dynamics,” she said.
To keep fit, she runs twice a week as well as doing a lot of speed work three times a week. Mtiya referees one or two matches a week. While she tries to maintain a healthy diet, she does indulge her sweet tooth every so often.
“I have to travel a lot which I really enjoy. I like meeting different people and seeing the different stadiums. On Wednesday, I reffed a women’s game between Pumas and Limpopo and it was the first time I had been to Mbombela Stadium.”
For any match, she prepares ahead, watching videos of previous games and liaises with other referees. “You have to be prepared for whatever may happen on the field. Before a game I get mixed emotions, while before and after each game, I pray. As the ref, you have to keep your composure when there’s ill-discipline on the field,” she said.
When she’s not on the field, Mtiya spends time watching rugby and athletics, or reading about rugby and athletics.
Today, Mtiya will referee the under-20 UKZN versus Rovers match.
OCKERT DE VILLIERS London
IN A cathartic moment Wayde van Niekerk’s emotions revealed the pressures and enormity of his feat of racing and winning double medals at the World Championships.
Soon after he crossed the line in second place to add the 200m silver to the 400m gold from only two days earlier, Van Niekerk battled to hold back the tears in a BBC interview.
Van Niekerk had dared to take on one of the most taxing schedules in the pressure cooker that is the World Championships and managed to successfully defend his 400m title and add the 200m silver to his name.
The South African had completed six days of competitive racing which included three 200s in as many days and three lactic acid-inducing 400s as well in a week from hell.
Asked about the reason for the tears, Van Niekerk said he felt disrespected by crowd favourite Isaac Makwala of Botswana earlier in the week.
Makwala missed out on the 400m after he was placed under 48-hours quarantine following a confirmed outbreak of norovirus among athletes at the championships.
Conspiracy theorists suggested the IAAF’s withdrawal of Makwala from Monday’s 200m heats after he was diagnosed with an infectious disease was part of a dubious scheme to give Van Niekerk easy passage to the podium in both the 200m and 400m.
“It really did upset me a bit, especially the amount of respect I’ve shown each and every competitor I compete against, including Makwela,” Van Niekerk said.
“I’ve shown him massive respect and for him to mention my name in connection with something fishy happening and pointing me out as the IAAF’s favourite … I deserve way more respect from my competitors.”
Makwala raced into the hearts and minds of athletics fans when he raced a solo time trial to feature in the semi-final two hours later.
Considered as one of Van Niekerk’s biggest threats, Makwala finished in sixth place in the 200m final posting a time of 20.44.
To compound Van Niekerk’s double challenge, the British summer dished up two days of cold, wet and miserable weather on the days he raced his 400m final and 200m semifinal.
“The fact was the legs were going whether I was concerned or not, I just tried to continue fighting and making sure I got over the finish line, and among the medals.
“I think silver is still a beautiful colour to have,” Van Niekerk said.
“I’ve shown over and over my dominance as an athlete, I’ve worked hard to be where I am today.”
Van Niekerk came into the championships with the goal of becoming the first man since American icon Michael Johnson at Gothenburg 1995 to win the 200-400m double gold.
Coming off the bend, Van Niekerk was neck-and-neck with Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev, who was the only survivor from the 200m finals at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and the Rio Olympic Games.
Guliyev got his nose in front in a close tussle between the two with the Azerbaijaniborn sprinter dipping first at the line in 20.09 seconds
Posting identical times of 20.11, Van Niekerk was awarded the silver on photo finish with Richards rounding off the podium in third.
His second medal at the championships secured South Africa their best ever medal haul at the World Championships of two gold, a silver, and two bronze medals.
Long-jump duo Luvo Manyonga and Ruswahl Samaai opened the account with gold and bronze respectively while Olympics women’s 800m champion Caster Semenya claimed a dramatic third-place in the 1 500m.
For now, at least, it seems like Van Niekerk will not attempt another 200-400m double but would instead take a stab at improving on his world record in the one-lap sprint.
“If I have to refer to the 400m, I would love to have that as an individual event, so I would love to go for my world record again,” Van Niekerk said.
“The only doubles I would consider now is the 100m and 200m. I’d love to do the 100m and 200m next year at the Commonwealth Games.”