RUGBY Mr Pearce On South African Refereeing

Press, Volume C, Issue 29488, 14 April 1961, Page 15

RUGBY Mr Pearce On South African Refereeing

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, April 13. Allowing for differences in interpretation, the refereeing in South Africa was of a high and fair standard, said Mr T. 11. Pearce, the manager of the All Blacks who toured South Africa last year, in his report to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union today. “We experienced a few eccentric referees, but as a general rule, the standard was equal to our best refereeing here,” he said. “Referees in South Africa do not wear a standard uniform as in New Zealand, and appear on the field in various guises. “They were very strict with the knock-on rule, although quite lax at times with offside. They did not play the advantage rule to any extent, and for a stage of the tour blew up loose rucks very quickly,” Mr Pearce said. “They were severe on late tackles. We found that we incurred about twice as many penalties as our opponents, and try as we would, we could not eliminate them. By this, it must not be construed that our play did not warrant penalising for offences. At times we committed elementary mistakes, as all footballers do. “Generally speaking, we had no great difficulty in adapting ourselves to their interpretations, and the team clay generally did not suffer as a result of the refereeing,” he said. “While we were in South Africa, a suggestion was made that neutral referees be brought in to referee test matches. We are opposed to this Better the devils you know than the devils you

don’t know,” Mr Pearce said. Mr Pearce emphasised four points, that the South African appointment method for provincial matches should be adjusted for future tours, that test appointments should remain as at present, that there was no great difficulty in adapting the team to South Africa interpretations, and that he was opposed to neutral referees.