Nick Mallett says it would be ‘nothing short of a masterstroke’ if Rassie Erasmus convinces Nigel Owens to aid the Springboks during the World Cup.
The Springboks are eager to add a referee coach to their staff to accompany the team for the World Cup in France later this year.
According to Rapport newspaper, former Test referee Owens is the Bok management’s preferred candidate for the role.
Writing in his column for Sport24, Mallett hailed the decision as a bit of clever thinking from Erasmus.
“Getting Owens on board really would be a win-win situation for the Boks, who have been on the wrong end of big refereeing decisions consistently for some time now,” Mallett wrote.
“Rassie shared a report with me recently that showed that, last year, Australia should have been penalised 12 more times in their 25-17 win over the Boks in Adelaide. That is an awful lot of penalties, and it has happened a lot to South Africa.
“Refereeing also hurt the Boks on their end-of-year tour in losses against Ireland and France, so introducing somebody like Owens to help the players in that department is just really clever.
“Owens is respected by the entire rugby world, by both players and referees, and is considered one of the best of all time, especially given how well he handled some massive games.
“When you ask someone of that standing to effectively be the intermediary between your players and World Rugby and their referees, I think it can only work in your favour. Having a guy like Owens taking feedback to World Rugby, instead of one of the Springbok coaches, makes sense given his level of expertise, but also his familiarity with the process and the individuals behind that process.”
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