Mallett: Boks’ referee management is key against Wallabies!

The Boks will have another New Zealand referee in charge of their Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Sydney on Saturday.

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Paul Williams angered Springboks supporters – and frustrated the Springboks themselves – last Saturday with a series of baffling decisions – along with his TMO and fellow Kiwi, Brendon Pickerill.

Chief among the incidents in question were the last-gasp tackle of Wallabies wing Marika Koroibete to deny Springbok flyer Makazole Mapimpi a try, and the yellow card dished out to Springbok scrumhalf Faf de Klerk for his ‘slap’ of opposite number, Nic White.

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While Paul Williams won’t be the referee on Saturday, he is one of the assistant referees while Pickerill will again be on TMO duty. The second assistant referee will also be the same as last weekend, little-known Frenchman Tual Trainini.

The referee for Saturday’s Test is another New Zealander, Ben O’Keeffe, who was in charge of the all-important second Test between the Boks and British & Irish Lions last year.

This game was something that Nick Mallett pointed out in his latest column for Sport24, while highlighting the need to ensure the Springboks manage the officials better than last weekend.

“Looking ahead to this weekend, where Ben O’Keeffe will take charge, the Boks and (Siya) Kolisi will need to be far more vocal in ensuring that the game is refereed fairly and that decisions go their way,” Mallett wrote.

“O’Keeffe, of course, refereed the second Test against the British & Irish Lions after the Rassie Erasmus video that blasted Nic Berry in Test one. In that game, he was meticulous and took a tremendous amount of time, and I don’t think there was an incorrect decision on the day.

“I don’t think this match will place O’Keeffe under as much stress and pressure as there was when the Boks met the Lions, but both teams are desperate to win on Saturday because they are both very much in the competition.

“The Boks have to be streetwise. They need to know that Australia will be on the edge of the law the whole time, and that is where Kolisi will be critical. He needs to be talking to O’Keeffe from the first collapsed scrum or the first time they don’t take a hit or take down a maul. He needs to put pressure on O’Keeffe throughout.”

Kick-off at the Allianz Stadium is scheduled for 11:35 (SA time).

Be sure to follow the match LIVE on The South African website.

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AUSTRALIA V BOKS

Australia

15 Reece Hodge, 14 Tom Wright, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper (c).

Subs: 16 David Porecki, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Darcy Swain, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Pete Samu, 22 Jake Gordon, 23 Andrew Kellaway.

Boks

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Duane Vermeulen, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Warrick Gelant

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