With only 3 weeks to go till the start of Super Rugby 2012, the news has arrived that all referees in Super Rugby as well as the Southern Hemisphere test series now to be known as The Rugby Championship (Tri Nations expanded) have powers to put players ‘ON REPORT’ for suspected foul play, under a system whioch will be trialed in rugby union for the first time.

These trials of the system will be monitored by the International Rugby Board (IRB).

A similar system exists in Rugby League, and has now been adopted by Rugby Union and the principal aim is to make the referees’ task easier and achieve more consistent findings and penalties in judicial hearings.

According to this new system, referees will be able to place a player on report when they SUSPECT BUT ARE’NT CERTAIN an offense has been committed.

Apart from the report system, referees will still be able to issue yellow and red cards in clear cases of foul play.

A player thus placed ‘ON REPORT’ will face a judicial hearing to determine whether he was indeed guilty of foul play, whereafter the same diciplinary action follows as we have come to see in citings.