SANZAR has announced the eight Super 14 referees for the 2010 Super 14. Half of them are South Africans.

There is also a reserve panel which contains the name of Steve Walsh, formerly of New Zealand, now of Australia. He moved to Sydney last year and at the end of the season won the Referee of the Year award for New South Wales. Of the nine referees on the reserve panel four are from Australia.

The eight man “core merit panel” has four South Africans, three New Zealanders and an Australian.

The reserve panel has four Australians, three New Zealanders and two South Africans. Acting SANZAR Referee Manager Lyndon Bray announced the panels and said that those on the reserve panels would have the chance to officiate at Super Rugby level as required.

Four South Africans have been named among the eight-man core ‘merit’ panel of referees announced by SANZAR on Thursday to whistle the 2010 Vodacom Super 14 competition.

The panels are:

Merit Panel: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Craig Joubert (South Africa), Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Marius Jonker (South Africa), Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand), Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Keith Brown (New Zealand), Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

Reserve Panel: Steve Walsh (Australia), Nathan Pearce (Australia), Paul Marks (Australia), Ian Smith (Australia), Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Pro Legoete (South Africa), Vinny Munro (New Zealand), Garratt Williamson (New Zealand), Jonathon White (New Zealand)

Bray said: “We are very fortunate to have such a strong team of internationally experienced referees – they set a very high standard of performance across all three SANZAR nations.

“It’s great to have this high calibre of referees in the reserve crew and we fully expect that they will be promoted quickly into the senior group of starting referees for Super Rugby.  Steve Walsh is an experienced international referee and we welcome his experience into the camp.  Several referees in the reserve panel, whom have previously refereed Super 14 matches, will have the opportunity to seek promotion to the merit panel, subject to form.”

The Super Rugby referees and reserves have been selected for the first time under a new SANZAR selection process.  The new SANZAR Referee Selectors – Colin Hawke (New Zealand), Andrew Cole (Australia) and Tappe Henning (South Africa) – will closely monitor referee performances as part of a promotion/relegation system.

Bray said: “This performance-based system ensures we are open, transparent and accountable as match officials.”

An unusually large number of reserve referees had been named in anticipation that some of them would be promoted quickly into the core group.

Bray said: “We are also looking ahead to developing our depth in international referees, so some of our selections reflect the confidence we have in supporting upcoming talent from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

“We will be staying true to the goal of at least eighty per cent of the matches being refereed by our top officials.”

Australia did much to broaden the experience of its referees by sending Ian Smith and Paul Marks to South Africa to referee in the Currie Cup and Nathan Pearce to new Zealand to referee in the Air New Zealand Cup.

Matt Goddard who has retired from refereeing because of injury, James  Leckie and  Willie Roos and Philip Bosch, who have both retired, are no longer on the panels. Garratt Williamson and Jaco Peyper are the only referees on the panels without Test experience. The most recent Test referee on the panels is Vinny Munro who refereed the Air New Zealand Cup final and then the second Test between Japan and Canada in Tokyo.

Steve Walsh who has been placed on the reserve panel has refereed 35 Tests and it would have been more but for his suspension last year,

Stuart Dickinson has referee more Super rugby matches than any of the others, making his debut in 1996, a year before Kaplan and Walsh. Pro Legoete is the only one of the 17 who has not refereed Super rugby though he has extensive Currie Cup experience.