Spiro Zavos

Sharks captain John Smit, after the loss to the Waratahs, complained that his team "didn't get the rub of the green from referee".

VIDEO: Sharks denied penalty try

Sharks coach John Plumtree wants SANZAR to review the performance of Australian referee Paul Marks, from his refereeing of the rucks to his decision not to award a penalty try to the Sharks after Kurtley Beale's "cynical decision" to knock down a pass going to an unmarked Ryan Kankowski.

"We wuz robbed" is the cry of losing visiting teams about the referee over the ages. But having local referees, rather than neutrals, promotes unfair attacks on referees that do them and the game no good.

According to RugbyHeaven correspondent, Spiro Zavos, analysis of Marks's performance indicates there is nothing of substance to the Sharks' complaints.

They were penalised (correctly) in the first minute of play when Johann Muller did not roll away from the ball. In the 20th minute Jannie du Plessis was sin-binned (correctly) for tripping. Three minutes later Andy Goode was sin-binned for playing a ball in a ruck on the Sharks' try line.

While the Sharks were down to 13 men (and amazingly scored 10 points) the Waratahs showed a lack of any strategic awareness by engaging in a shovathon on the Sharks' tryline. By concentrating their attack on scrumming, they contested the one part of the field where the Sharks had adequate numbers in defence.

In the 77th minute Stefan Terblanche broke into the clear. Beale batted down a pass on its way to a flying Kankowski. The Waratahs claimed Beale had gone for an interception. If the interception had been made the Waratahs might well have scored a try. From a distant view in the stadium, it did seem to me to be an attempted interception. But Marks ruled differently. Beale was sin-binned for the deliberate knock down. Having given this decision, Marks could or perhaps should have awarded a penalty. But this is a judgment call as Kankowski still had about 30 metres to run.

The Sharks soon generated a five-metre lineout. A try would win the match. The lineout take was made. The Sharks started their drive to the tryline. Almost immediately they were penalised for having blockers ahead of the catcher in setting up the drive.

I watched this incident a number of times on video. The referee's decision was correct, in my opinion.

The point about all this is that last year SANZAR started what I then called the "noble experiment" of having local referees from time to time, instead of always using neutrals. Last year's final at Pretoria between the Bulls and the Chiefs was refereed by a South African, Jonathan Kaplan. This, clearly, was going too far. The finals should always be refereed by neutral referees.

The nature of the criticism of Marks over some of his judgment calls, rather than mistakes, indicates it is time for the local referee system to be called off. The system is unfair to referees. It lends itself (as in the case of Marks) too unfairly to accusations of home-town refereeing. How do you defend yourself against this type of emotional argumentation?

By my count, the teams being refereed by local teams have won seven matches and lost five this season. The upset match of the tournament, the Chiefs being beaten at Hamilton by the Reds, was refereed by a New Zealander, Chris Pollock. The match outcomes are clearly not being skewed. Yet this is not the point. The local referees have performed well. But it is unfair to them and to teams involved in decisions they regard as controversial for even the possibility of a "home-town decision" complaint to be raised.

Justice must be done and must be seen to be done. Neutral referees best fit this requirement.