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Cape Town - The first full round of Super Rugby is a thing of the past, with praise coming from SANZAR for the role of referees in the competition.
VIDEO: Chiliboy Ralepelle's 'try' against the Stormers
According to the Supersport.com website, statistics show that not only were penalties down per game, but scrum completion rates came in at 66%, above the average of 60% last season, making the first full round of Super Rugby a positive start to the 2013 season.
The only drawback it seems, was one decision to award the Bulls a try in their win over the Stormers, which SANZAR referees boss Lyndon Bray admitted was a mistake.
Bray has confirmed that the decision was indeed incorrect and that a penalty should have been awarded to the Stormers, instead of a try to the Bulls.
The argument whether this would have made a difference or not is pure conjecture, but referee Jaco Peyper has received a dressing down from his superiors, although Bray has called it “disappointing” that the try was awarded in the first place.
“It’s a simple answer really, Jaco knows he was wrong and he has to take accountability for that,” Bray explained.
“In the incident, we see the Bulls 9 kick the ball and the Bulls 2 is in front of 9. At best the Stormers player plays the ball if it indeed does hit him, and in that case the law is very clear. Number 2 is within 10 metres of the ball, and he needs to retire. He may have been close to the player receiving the ball, but the reality is he is offside and not allowed to come within 10 metres of the player who plays at the ball.
"The fact that the Stormers player plays the ball does not put him onside unless he is retiring. The only way he could have been onside would have been if the ball was charged down, and it is clearly not that, so the referee got that wrong.
“What is disappointing is that the law is really very well known to referees at this level and it is very disappointing that he got that wrong.”
The Bulls beat the Stormers 25-17.
VIDEO: Chiliboy Ralepelle's 'try' against the Stormers
According to the Supersport.com website, statistics show that not only were penalties down per game, but scrum completion rates came in at 66%, above the average of 60% last season, making the first full round of Super Rugby a positive start to the 2013 season.
The only drawback it seems, was one decision to award the Bulls a try in their win over the Stormers, which SANZAR referees boss Lyndon Bray admitted was a mistake.
Bray has confirmed that the decision was indeed incorrect and that a penalty should have been awarded to the Stormers, instead of a try to the Bulls.
The argument whether this would have made a difference or not is pure conjecture, but referee Jaco Peyper has received a dressing down from his superiors, although Bray has called it “disappointing” that the try was awarded in the first place.
“It’s a simple answer really, Jaco knows he was wrong and he has to take accountability for that,” Bray explained.
“In the incident, we see the Bulls 9 kick the ball and the Bulls 2 is in front of 9. At best the Stormers player plays the ball if it indeed does hit him, and in that case the law is very clear. Number 2 is within 10 metres of the ball, and he needs to retire. He may have been close to the player receiving the ball, but the reality is he is offside and not allowed to come within 10 metres of the player who plays at the ball.
"The fact that the Stormers player plays the ball does not put him onside unless he is retiring. The only way he could have been onside would have been if the ball was charged down, and it is clearly not that, so the referee got that wrong.
“What is disappointing is that the law is really very well known to referees at this level and it is very disappointing that he got that wrong.”
The Bulls beat the Stormers 25-17.
