Rugby: Bay's top refs take control of the middle

Tauranga's Glen Jackson recently became the first to 100 first class games as a player and referee.

This week's round of the ITM Cup and Heartland Trophy saw Bay of Plenty referees excel on the big stage in charge of four games.

On Thursday night, Shane McDermott controlled Wellington's thrashing of North Harbour, while on Friday Nick Briant achieved his own milestone, reaching his 100th first class appointment as a referee when he whistled Tasman v Bay of Plenty in Nelson.

On Saturday, Brett Johnson made his first appearance for the year in a Heartland Trophy match between Buller and King Country at Westport, and to cap off a busy weekend, Glen Jackson controlled yesterday's Canterbury v Counties Manukau match.

Jackson recently refereed his 100th game to go with more than 100 first class games as a player.

"It is a pretty significant weekend for all of our elite referees," said another Tauranga local and New Zealand referee coach Bryce Lawrence.

"To be so highly represented on the national and international stage with four referees from the Bay is massive for our local referees, who get to learn from those they watch on TV on a regular basis.'

Bay of Plenty referees manager Pat Rae concurs with Lawrence's comments.

"It makes it really easy for me to recruit new referees when we have such a large number of high calibre referees at my fingertips to call upon, to provide expert advice and comments at education and training sessions for our local referees," Rae said.

This year, a total of 31 new referees picked up the whistle in the Bay. The number of red cards issued this year was up slightly on last year, However, a positive trend saw fewer referees being abused last year.

"We still have a way to go," Rae reports, but with some key off season strategies being looked into by Bay of Plenty Rugby, like technical zones for coaches and reserves at schools and clubs and a Positive Rugby Environment web page, 2016 looks to be well and truly under control.