‘Hurricanes got away with murder’

Former Test referee Jonathan Kaplan says the Hurricanes should've been penalised for cleaning beyond the ball in their victory over the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus.

The Bulls were unable to get going for the second consecutive week and Kaplan, writing on ratetheref.co.za, believes they weren't helped by the Hurricanes' tactics at the breakdown area.

'Andrew Lees [the referee] has massive potential and does well when the challenge is moderate, but probably needs to step up a little in terms of his ability to be accurate when the going gets frenetic.

'I said it last week, and I am not changing my tune. This team [the Hurricanes] is taking players beyond the ball on attack and they are getting away with murder!

'Referees need to pick up this type of thing as it has a profound influence on the ability of any team to defend accurately! This is not a new phenomenon, but it's ruining the game!'

'The scrum reset is rearing its ugly head again, but it’s often a point of conjecture whether an inaccurate sanction is even worse. Taking out defenders past the ball has been around for a long time … anyone going to do something about it?'

Kaplan's full column

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