Kiwi referee ‘froze’ on big stage, says Kaplan

the Aussies dominated, which resulted in defeat.

Kaplan, who has been an outspoken commentator on the game’s issues since retiring from refereeing, says he didn’t believe Lawrence entered the quarterfinal with any premeditated ideas.

Instead, he believes the New Zealander simply ‘‘froze’’ during the massive occasion.

The Springboks enjoyed threequarters of possession, but their flow was constantly disrupted by Australian flanker David Pocock, who dominated the rucks.

Lawrence let several transgressions go unpunished and livid Springboks fans made it clear they were unhappy at the way he allowed Pocock to operate.

Afterwards, Lawrence found himself on the receiving end of nasty vitriol from angry South African supporters, and he refused to referee there during the 2012 Super Rugby season. Lawrence announced his retirement later that year.

‘‘He was considered to be in the top four or five referees in the world. He was given the plum quarterfinal and didn’t put his best foot forward,’’ Kaplan told the South African website Sport24.co.za.

Kaplan was adamant Lawrence never deliberately went out to eliminate South Africa from the tournament, which was won by hosts New Zealand.

‘‘I think he froze,’’ Kaplan said. ‘‘I don’t subscribe to all this other nonsense. I think he froze on the big occasion and in actual fact, he didn’t make decisions, which was his undoing. It wasn’t that he made so many bad decisions, I mean he did make some, but we all do. But I think he was almost . . . I wouldn’t say too frightened . . . but he was trying to do something that wasn’t in line with his profile.’’

Kaplan said Lawrence’s performance did affect the final result.

‘‘Absolutely. But does he deserve to have never refereed a test match after that?

‘‘That’s a question that the public would love to know,’’ Kaplan said.