The Otago Highlanders recovered from 14-11 behind at halftime to beat South Africa’s Cheetahs for only their second win this season. It was another close defeat in a frustrating season for captain Juan Smith and his Bloemfontein men who themselves have won just once this season and are second-bottom of the table.
It probably cannot all be put down to Australian referee Paul Marks’s inept handling of the Super 14 match between the Hurricanes and the Sharks in Wellington on Saturday, but there are now thoughts of the International Rugby Board (IRB) appointing Super 14 referees rather than the three Sanzar unions.
The Sharks’ reserve forward, Epi Taione, has been suspended for six weeks for headbutting a Wellington Hurricanes player in their Super 14 rugby clash on the weekend. Taione was sent off by referee Paul Marks for headbutting Hurricanes forward Jeremy Thrush in a maul during the Wellington match, which ended in a 13-13 draw.
New Zealand high-performance referee coach Colin Hawke has questioned the performance of referee Paul Marks in the Hurricanes and Sharks’ Super 14 rugby game on Saturday. Hawke said he was surprised the Australian did not use all the aids available to him in the controversial Wellington game.
The Hurricanes and the Sharks battled to a 13-all draw in a controversial Super 14 rugby match played in atrocious conditions in Wellington on Saturday. Australian referee Paul Marks handed out a red card, a yellow card and awarded a penalty try, before ending the game without reacting to Hurricanes centre Conrad Smith being taken out of play in a potentially try-scoring move.