SA match official stood down
South African match official Cobus Wessels has been stood down as assistant referee for Saturday's Tri-Nations match in Christchurch.
South African match official Cobus Wessels has been stood down as assistant referee for Saturday's Tri-Nations match between New Zealand and Australia.
The International Rugby Board on Tuesday confirmed the change to the match official panel for the top of the table clash in Christchurch.
Wessels has been replaced by Keith Brown (New Zealand) as assistant referee for the top of the table clash in Christchurch.
Wessels, who will now perform the role of Television Match Official, has been stood down as assistant referee 2 following a routine review of match official performance in last weekend's Tri-Nations match in Melbourne.
It is believed that the decision which cost Wessels was the one which led to the first yellow card for Drew Mitchell, for a 'late and dangerous' tackle.
New Zealander O'Brien told NZPA the alleged tackle by Mitchell on All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was at the minor end of the scale and Wessels had paid the price for his over-reaction.
“If anything, it's lucky to be a penalty,” O'Brien said.
“McCaw offloads as he's about to collide with Drew Mitchell, who puts his hands out and pushes him away. So there's no way it's a yellow card offence.
“As a result of that, with the second yellow, Australia went without a player for 30 minutes and that just shouldn't have happened.”
O'Brien said Wessels also called an All Blacks lineout throw not straight late in the test when it was clearly down the middle.
“Assistant referees, we encourage them to intervene in the game but they've got to get it right. There were two decisions made which we felt weren't up to the standard required.
“Cobus has been very understanding, he admits that he got it wrong and we're not going to hang him out to dry. He's got to go away and think about that, referee the Currie Cup and hopefully learn a lesson from it.”
The appointment of a replacement assistant referee from the host union is owing to the logistical and preparation pressures of selecting a neutral official for Saturday's match and will not be a precedent for future appointments.
The change has also been approved by Sanzar.