All eyes on ref Jackson at Newlands
SUPER RUGBY referees have come under some heavy fire over the past few weeks, and so it is no surprise that the Stormers will be talking to Glen Jackson before tomorrow night’s game at Newlands.
Stormers forwards coach Matthew Proudfoot confirmed yesterday that the team management will be speaking to New Zealander Jackson today to sort out any possible problems around the scrums and mauls.
Hopefully it will be a fruitful discussion, for there has been an outcry about the number of penalties being awarded at the scrums in Super Rugby. Teams have been penalised heavily and lost games because of indiscretions like losing the bind and then regaining it, the loosehead prop scrumming inwards on the tighthead, some teams taking a quick “hit” on the engagement, the tightheads using a “short” bind on the loosehead instead of the long bind ... The list goes on.
Even Sanzar referees boss Lyndon Bray weighed in on the issue in the media this week, admitting that New Zealand whistleman Keith Brown had made some mistakes in awarding the Brumbies a number of scrum penalties in the second half against the Cheetahs, who lost the game in the last minute when Brown awarded the Australian side a controversial penalty, again at the set piece.
Australia-based New Zealander Steve Walsh also came under fire for dishing out 30 penalties in the Bulls-blues match at Loftus last week, and Bray and SA referees boss André Watson said this week that Walsh should’ve allowed the Bulls to play a penalty awarded to them when Rene Ranger was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle on Bjorn Basson when the Bulls wing dotted down. Walsh said that time was up after the conversion, despite the pleas of Bulls captain Pierre Spies.
One of the biggest problems at the scrums is that some referees take an eternity to call engage, which leads to a lot of early engagements or collapses.
Hopefully Jackson will be more firm and decisive at the scrums. The Stormers, though, can feel confident about their scrumming so far this season. Young loosehead prop Steven Kitshoff has been a revelation in his second season of Super Rugby, but he only made his starting debut against the Hurricanes this year.
The 20-year-old’s physique has definitely been strengthened in the off-season, and it showed in their last game against the Sharks, when he won his battle with incumbent Springbok tighthead Jannie du Plessis.
The experienced Brok Harris has been dependable as ever at No 3, but it has been his replacement in the second half, Frans Malherbe, who has really caught the eye by making a big impact when he takes to the field. Most rugby experts will tell you a prop needs to have a long, straight back, and Malherbe fits the bill.
Malherbe, who hails from Paarl and attended Paarl Boys’ High, celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday, so he will go all out tomorrow to show that he has truly come of age in Super Rugby against the likes of Blues looseheads Pauliasi Manu and Tom Mccartney.
At least the Stormers have also used their mauls to great effect this season, especially against the Hurricanes in their opening game, where two of their three tries came from that platform.
The Hurricanes also con- ceded a penalty try from a maul, but Proudfoot feels that the Blues are better equipped to stop the Stormers, adding that they prevented the Bulls from launching their mauls last week at Loftus by trying to stop it from being set before the drive starts.