Hurricanes welcome referee Kaplan with open arms

Colin Cooper

The appointment of South African rugby referee Jonathan Kaplan has been hailed by the Hurricanes as the perfect start to their Super 14 final week.

The clash of the outstanding Crusaders and Hurricanes loose forward trios will play a big part in deciding the final in Christchurch on Saturday night and Kaplan's role at the breakdown may hold sway.

Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper said the Hurricanes "overwhelmingly" endorsed Kaplan when asked their preference for the final.

He said having played under the South African whistler in last weekend's 16-14 semifinal defeat of the New South Wales Waratahs was an important experience.

"That's why we rate him the No 1, because he's very clear and we understand how he interprets the laws in the contact area."

Cooper's comments come in the wake of a controversial round eight match between the teams last month in which the Hurricanes believe their opponents got away with too much at the breakdown, even though the penalty count tallied heavily against the Crusaders.

Richie McCaw was at the heart of the Hurricanes' angst, with the Crusaders flanker at one stage appearing to be choked by Hurricanes prop Neemia Tialata out of frustration.

Tialata is off-limits to the media this week but Hurricanes veteran Tana Umaga addressed the issue today, believing his team had learned plenty from that game.

"One aspect of the Crusaders that they've got over us is their ability to play to the ref," he said.

"That's something we have to learn. We have to be able to move with the ref. If he's calling it one way then we have to go that way as well. I suppose we were a bit slow to do that earlier on."

Umaga rated Kaplan alongside England's Chris White as the best referee in the world and easily the best in the southern hemisphere.

"We're lucky to have a ref like that controlling the final because he likes free-flowing football, he doesn't like people slowing the ball down.

"That's good for both sides because we like to have the ball in the hand a lot."

The controversy surrounding All Blacks captain McCaw after the April 1 clash in Wellington gathered momentum for a week and resulted in him being labelled a cheat by some sectors of the media and public.

It was sparked by a seemingly innocuous comment from Cooper after the game: "The frustration is that the penalty count was 12-4 (against the Crusaders) and the majority of those penalties were from rucks."

Asked today why the Crusaders appeared to get away with more than other sides when it came to stretching rugby's lawbook, Cooper was blunt.

"Because they're a great team," he said.

Meanwhile, Umaga's voice remains a powerful one in the national game even though he has retired as All Blacks captain.

He supported All Blacks coach Graham Henry's reported desire to have New Zealand's leading players rested through the first six weeks of next year's Super 14 to have them physically ready for the World Cup.

"I can see the merits of it, we haven't won it (World Cup) for 20 years," he said.

"I'd like to think that that does take precedence and I'm sure it will."

- NZPA