Overseas referees in action at the Craven Week for the first time

By Hannes Nienaber , in Rugby | News , at 2018-07-10 Tags: Craven Week u18

History is being made this year during the 55th Coca-Cola Craven Week in Paarl. For the first time in the prestigious history of the tournament which started in 1964 referees from overseas is also officiating at the festival of rugby.

Three referees who are contenders on the Pro14 panel – Ian Kenny (Scotland), John Erskine (Ireland) and Mike English (Wales) will be part of the referee panel that will be officiating at the Craven Week. The level of referees at the week was also boosted by the decision by the South African Rugby Union (Saru) to send a panel of more experienced referees to this year’s edition of the tournament.

Two referees in action from South Africa, Ruhan Meiring and Jaco Kotze, have been in charge of a main game of the Craven Week before. Meiring was in charge of the main match of the 2016 tournament between the Golden Lions and Western Province. Kotze was in charge of the main game back in 2012 in Port Elizabeth when the Blue Bulls defeated the Golden Lions by 46-0.

Kotze and Ben Crouse has been regular referees on the World Rugby Sevens circuit. Aimee Barrett-Theron has made her international test debut last year when she was in charge for the World Cup qualifier between Japan and Fiji in Hong Kong. She was also on the panel for the historic first sevens tournament at the Olympic Games.

“We wanted to make sure that the referees contribute to the success of the Craven Week. It is a high performance environment and we want to have the best possible officials at the tournament,” said Banks Yantolo, referees manager at Saru.

Erskine became the first referee from overseas to officiate a match at a Craven Week when he was in charge in the match between the Golden Lions and Eastern Province during the opening day of the 2018-edition of the tournament at Brug Street. The Golden Lions won the match by 46-25.

Scotland’s referee commissioner, Tappe Henning, is also in attendance. The referees of the week are assessed after each day’s play.

The panel of referees for this year’s Craven Week is:

Ruhan Meiring, Vusi Msibi, Ben Crouse, Jaco Kotze, Aimee Barrett-Theron, Cwengile Jadezweni, Ian Kenny, John Erskine, Mike English.

About
Latest Posts

Hannes Nienaber

Hannes Nienaber covered schools' rugby in South Africa for Volksblad, Beeld, and Rapport for 11 years. He also created the biggest school rugby website in South Africa - School of Rugby - back in 2007. It eventually morphed into Supersport Schools Plus. He still occasionally milks cows.

Latest posts by Hannes Nienaber (see all)