The state of rugby refereeing in South Africa is of major concern – and no, not the standard of officiating.

Despite the vast number of rugby matches played in a year, people are growing weary of wielding the whistle and those in the know say this can largely be attributed to the harassment that referees face.

At the end of May, SA Rugby president Mark Alexander wrote to all 15 member unions of the national governing body, condemning the abuse of match officials following a spate of incidents.

Alexander specifically mentioned incidents of assault on officials in the Eastern Cape, but warned ‘rugby club members who abuse or assault referees should expect to be banned from the game and action taken against their clubs’.

Within two weeks, however, the South African reported that the referee of a club rugby match between Saldanha and St Helena Bay had to be escorted to his car after stones and bottles were hurled at him.

The latest incident that was reported on in the media took place on August 5, when a referee was allegedly threatened with a firearm by a team coach in Borcherds, George.

South Western Districts referees’ association chairperson Gavin Esau confirmed this to George Herald and said two more incidents happened on the same weekend – one at a club match in Oudtshoorn and another in a match between two school teams in Groot-Brakrivier.

The firearm incident is under investigation.

Safety concerns

Esau said the attacks ‘reinforce the perception about the safety of referees’, and added that people are already reluctant to act as referees in matches. Besides the threat of physical violence, verbal abuse is all too common, he says.

Caxton Local Media asked SA Rugby if a record is kept of referee-abuse incidents, but was told that the figures are not available because amateur rugby refereeing is managed on a province-by-province basis. He explained, however, that disciplinary processes after breaches against referees can result in sanctions.

What the numbers say

According to the latest available data provided by SA Rugby, there are currently 1 619 referees (1 520 male and 99 female) in the country. The number includes all registered referees and is thus not a true reflection of the number of active referees who – in their free time – are available to referee school and club rugby matches over weekends.

The number of referees has decreased by 86 since 2021, which was the last referee data capture period.

Also read: Thuggery continues in club rugby as fan stabs player on the field

In 2019, 700 people expressed interest in becoming referees through the SA Rugby Referees website. However, of interest is that in 2021 – the year in which South African director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was banned for two months after posting this infamous video to Twitter (now X) – only 414 people showed an interest in picking up the whistle.

When asked, SA Rugby did not answer if the decline could directly or indirectly be attributed to the incident, but rather noted that: “The cancellation of the club and schools rugby programme because of Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021 makes it difficult to say what the real trend is, but we’d be foolish if we didn’t acknowledge that referee recruitment is something that has to be constantly addressed.”

In the latest reporting period, 526 people have shown an interest in becoming match officials, but it is unclear how many of them followed through.

• 2019: 700
• 2021: 414
• 2023: 526

Asked if the number of referees is concerning, SA Rugby said: “It has been a focus for referee societies across the country since referee societies were founded in the distant past. You can never have too many referees and there is no doubt we need more.”

When asked why people do not want to become referees, SA Rugby said it is difficult to determine but notes reasons can be both ‘personal as well as structural’.

A root of the problem?

Referees are only law enforcers (they apply the rules to a specific match) and not lawmakers. Asked if the current laws of the sport add to the abuse, SA Rugby said that decision-making by officials in all sports is a source of controversy.

“But there’s no doubt that the complexity of rugby’s laws compounds the situation,” it said.

When asked if the relatively mild sanctions imposed on international players for misconduct towards match officials – such as the recent three-match ban of Ireland captain Johnny Sexton – has a negative influence on changing player behaviour towards referees, SA Rugby said that ‘it would be wrong to extrapolate isolated incidents as to having a widespread influence on individuals making personal decisions at the community level’.

“At community level, the motivation is about being engaged with your community, supporting the game and enjoying the role far from the public eye,” SA Rugby explained, adding that to curb abuse, provincial unions have been urged to take strong action against offending individuals – and the clubs they represent.

If you are interested in becoming a referee, visit the SA Rugby Referees website.