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Tappe Henning, the Head of Match Officials for the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, has given his referees 8 out of 10 for their performances in the first two rounds of this season’s competition. And he is confident it will only get better as he’s announced a plan designed specifically for this purpose and to improve the overall product of the competition.

This week Henning announced three steps that will be taken to keep improving the standard of refereeing in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, including the formation of an independent referee selection panel, the appointment of a set-piece analyst to assist referees, and a referee and TMO pairing system.

“We’ve changed the structure in how we review our match officials’ performances. In the past it was done by the five high performance referee managers from each union and we reviewed the performances and wrote assessments. We have now switched to four independent selectors (not directly involved in the unions) as a selectors’ panel who do those reviews, with me as the chairman of that group. The four are Nigel Owens (Wales), George Clancy (Ireland), Stuart Berry (South Africa) and Neil Paterson (Scotland). We’ve aligned that to the model that World Rugby is using. The idea is to bring a fresh pair of eyes and thinking into the system. The aim within the next three to five years is to develop a group of elite match officials selected on merit,” said Henning.

“It’s also important for us to improve our referees’ knowledge all the time, which will lead to stronger decision making and more accuracy in decision making. We have appointed ex-Scotland international Steve Scott as our set-piece analyst who will focus specifically on the performance of referees at each and every scrum and lineout and maul. This is to improve their understanding of those phases of play and for them to make better decisions. Steve’s role will also be to engage with the forwards coaches of the clubs to discuss matters they raise and to be our link so that we develop a better understanding between referees and clubs and greater consistency from the match officials’ side.

“And then, as with teams where pairing players in certain positions brings good results, it’s the same for us in our refereeing environment, specifically with the referee and the TMO. Our aim is to appoint the referee and TMO in pairings so the more they work together the better they become, and the less time it will take to make decisions. And to even get to a point where the TMO can also make live calls without stopping the game – to build that confidence between those two individuals. I must stress, though, the TMO’s role is to bring fairness to the game and decisions and not perfection to the referee’s performance. It’s a support role for the fairness over 80 minutes of decision making.”

Henning said the overall goal of all of these strategies is to close the gap between the laws of the game and the referees’ delivery of a decision.

“The delivery of the decision must be understandable to players and fans. The role of the modern referee is to deliver your decision in a way that people understand.”

It’s against the backdrop of the magnificent Stellenbosch mountains and the equally impressive backdrop of rugby history in this town that a few DHL Stormers players will relive boyhood memories and their rugby dreams when they run out onto the Danie Craven Stadium field in Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture against Connacht.

The iconic stadium, named after South African rugby legend Danie “Doc” Craven, has become a welcome second home for the DHL Stormers. And for a few players in their squad, it’s the perfect place to open the defence of their Vodacom United Rugby Championship title this weekend.

“I went to school in Stellenbosch at Paul Roos Gimnasium and it was always exciting for me to go to the Danie Craven Stadium to watch the Varsity Cup matches. As a schoolboy you wanted to strive to be on that same field one day,” says hooker Chad Solomon.

“In my Grade 11 year we played most of our school’s First Team matches at the Danie Craven Stadium. So that’s where it started me for, playing there in front of those crowds. It was a real honour. It’s like a dream come true when you run out into that stadium for the first time at the age of 17. I won a Varsity Cup final there playing for UCT Ikey Tigers and that’s still one of my favourite rugby memories from this stadium. This is a rugby town with great history and it feels special to give back to the game of rugby in this way.”

Lock Ernst van Rhyn also has fond memories of this stadium as a youngster.

“I would go and watch Varsity Cup matches there as a young boy, and I had a few good years at Maties – we won two trophies there. To now run out onto that field in a DHL Stormers jersey is very special for me. To come back to where it sort of started in my career, and to look back and realise, ‘Ok, you’ve come this far. Now let’s focus on the next part of the journey’. It’s very special for me.”

Van Rhyn explained exactly what makes the Danie Craven Stadium such a special experience for a South African player.

“It’s the history. When you think of how many South African rugby legends played for Maties on this field, and you also think of Doc Craven and all the stories about him. But also the atmosphere. The students bring a lot of gees. It’s a real mixture of history and tradition coming together for something really exciting.”

Centre Dan du Plessis grew up mesmerised by stories of his father, Springbok Michael du Plessis, playing for Maties at the Danie Craven Stadium.

“We moved to Stellenbosch for high school where I went to Paul Roos Gimnasium. We lived near the stadium and I spent a lot of time kicking a rugby ball on that field and training there after school. My dad played a lot in that stadium in his years at Maties. It has such a rich rugby history, and it’s a privilege for me to also step out onto that field.”

And prop Neethling Fouche said he never fails to get goosebumps whenever he plays at the Danie Craven Stadium. “The setting alone is probably one of the most beautiful in the world. The university students and the vibe they bring is really like an extra player on the field for you.”

Image credit: Pixabay

As Marcell Coetzee started the new Vodacom United Rugby Championship season with a bang and a Man-of-the-Match performance when his Vodacom Bulls beat the Emirates Lions away this past Saturday, nobody could have been prouder of him than his dad Dries.

“I’m very proud of him. I get emotional every time he runs onto the field,” Coetzee’s father Dries said only a few days before the opening game as he joined his son at the Vodacom RED Father and Son Campout at Loftus Versfeld.

“We always believed he had the talent, but he surprised even us with how quickly he came through. He made his debut for the Cell C Sharks at the age of 19. To this day we remain proud of him and try not to miss a single game he plays.”

That kind of support is certainly not lost on Coetzee.

“My dad is my hero. I’ve always looked up to him. He’s shown me the true value of time and love, and what you receive from your family is how you can use it going forward to pursue your dreams. My parents have been incredible like that.”

Vodacom United Rugby Championship fans are in for a treat this season with some new innovations set to enhance their passion for the game.

When season two kicks off in South Africa on Saturday with the clash between the Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls at Emirates Airline Park, the in-stadium fan experience will be significantly enhanced by SuperSport with a referee microphone to the stadium PA system that will broadcast TMO referral calls and try or no try decisions, as well as graphics reflecting select referee decisions.

The debate around the most in-form players will also take on a whole new dynamic with the launch of a Vodacom United Rugby Championship Top 100 Player Ranking system.

The ranking will identify the most valuable players across the 16 teams at any time during the season. It will analyse every match the players have appeared in during the last 12 months – including the VURC, European competitions and internationals – and will pull together everything from a player’s ability to crash past defenders, earn a scrum penalty or even win a crucial turnover on his own try-line in a comprehensive analysis of that player’s contribution to his team.

The new ranking will also be able to focus on skill types to identify the best prop at scrummaging, the best flanker at defending, the best fly half at goal kicking or the best winger at carrying and so on.

All the rankings have been scaled so that an average VURC player scores 80, with the very best performers in the league reaching over 90. The VURC Top 100 will be available on unitedrugby.com and be updated on a monthly basis.

Image credit: Pixabay

Another wave of young South African rugby stars are expected to take centre stage in this season’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship as the competition continues to distinguish itself as a breeding ground of future Springbok talent.

The fairytale rise of Canan Moodie from ball boy to the Vodacom Bulls and then to the Springboks has set the tone and provided the inspiration for a host of young players to follow him. And with Vodacom Bulls coach Jake White appointing Gert Smal to clearly identify young talent in their ranks, and Emirates Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen saying he believes their current Under-23 team is the best in the world, this second season of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship does indeed seem primed for another burst of young South African rugby talent.

“I’ve given Gert Smal the project to look after our juniors and to give me a report of all our juniors he feels have a future at the Vodacom Bulls. Then more importantly, we need to know what to do to put them on the right pathway. He’ll also spend a lot of time with the junior coaches to make sure we replicate there what we do with our senior players,” said White.

Emirates Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen is equally excited about the young talent at his disposal.

“I think we have the best Under-23 team in the world. If you add your mixture of senior players in there, it’s really exciting. We back our junior system and we pick very young. It’s sometimes a challenge for us but it’s great for South African rugby. When you keep breeding 30 youngsters a year over four franchises, so that’s roughly 100 youngsters a year who get exposure to this competition, and that’s when you get the Canan Moodie fairytale. May that be us this season. I can mention five or six names I think are capable of doing the same over the next two years.”

Sacha Mngomezulu, who had a brief taste of Vodacom United Rugby Championship action with the victorious DHL Stormers last season, certainly believes in the power of the competition to provide a clear pathway to the rugby dreams of young players under this season’s theme of “United We Rise”.

“Canan is one of my friends and I was with him at the Junior Springboks. Watching his rise has made a lot of us realise it’s very tangible. Canan puts in a ton of hard work and he’s an example of what can be achieved playing in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. He’s given a lot of us youngsters hope.

“The competition provides worldwide exposure for us. It’s an exciting competition you want to be a part of. From my little taste of it last season, it’s definitely something I want to be part of again this season. I just want to get into the match day 23 as often as possible and be in the mix – whether it be at 10 or 12 or at 15. Wherever it is. I’ll run on at flank if I have to just to get back on the field in this competition.”