Marius van der Westhuizen promoted to Super Rugby referee panel
Marius van der Westhuizen on Thursday was named among six South African referees on the 18-member Vodacom Super Rugby panel announced by Sanzar for the 2014 season.
Van der Westhuizen, who progressed through the refereeing ranks steadily in the last few seasons due his consistent performances, was rewarded for his good form recently by being appointed as the referee for the Absa Currie Cup semifinal between The Sharks and Toyota Free State Cheetahs in Durban. He also did a fine job in the past two seasons as a young referee on the IRB’s HSBC Sevens World Series circuit.
He is one of two new members on the 2014 Super Rugby panel, with the other being Australia’s Matt O’Brien.
Van der Westhuizen joins Stuart Berry, Jason Jaftha, Craig Joubert, Jaco Peyper and Lourens van der Merwe in a strong South African contingent.
Sanzar Game Manager Lyndon Bray was pleased to welcome Van der Westhuizen and O’Brien to the panel and said: “Each of these men present the strongest potential profiles for refereeing at the top level. Both are so excited to be given the opportunity and we are adamant that we need to recruit these young guys and start developing them into top Super Rugby referees earlier rather than later.”
Bray also paid tribute to SA’s most experienced referee Jonathan Kaplan, whose professional career was extended by a few weeks after last weekend’s Absa Currie Cup final to take charge of the Windhoek Draught Tri-Nations Series featuring hosts Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
“Jonathan Kaplan’s experience is second to none throughout a distinguished career at Test, Super Rugby and Currie Cup levels,” Bray said. “He has accomplished more than any other referee in the history of Super Rugby, including being the first referee to officiate 100 games in our competition.”
The 2014 Vodacom Super Rugby panel:
Stuart Berry, Jason Jaftha, Craig Joubert, Jaco Peyper, Lourens van der Merwe, Marius van der Westhuizen – South Africa
Nick Briant, Mike Fraser, Glen Jackson, Chris Pollock, Garratt Williamson – New Zealand
Angus Gardner, Rohan Hoffmann, James Leckie, Andrew Lees, Matt O’Brien, Steve Walsh – Australia
Francisco Pastrana – Argentina
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