While South Africans were understandably celebrating the appointment of Siya Kolisi as the country’s first black Springbok Test captain on Saturday, there was another momentous rugby occasion that took place in Dublin on the same day.
Durbanite Stuart Berry followed in the footsteps of Nigel Owens and Romain Poite when he became only the fifth person to referee a Guinness PRO14 Final, as Leinster Rugby faced Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium.
A week earlier, Berry became the first South African to officiate in a major Northern Hemisphere club rugby play-off match when he officiated the semi-final between Leinster and Munster. After impressing with the whistle, he was deservedly placed in charge of the finale. The match itself saw Leinster overcome Scarlets 40-32, while Berry’s performance was once again widely praised.
Berry, who has also refereed 11 Test matches and 26 Super Rugby games, looks back at what was a thoroughly enjoyable tournament.
Why would anyone want to be a referee in this day and age? You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
I think first and foremost referees enjoy the game and want to contribute to the game. Personally, I enjoy challenges in my normal life and refereeing provides a challenge that I enjoy dealing with. The ability to make split-second decisions is a skill I value highly and enjoy continually working on.
Referees are constantly criticised, and it’s become a whole lot easier to do so with the advent of social media. How do you handle it?
I think that criticism is as bad as you make it out to be. Some referees choose to engage on social media and follow conventional media, while others prefer to ignore what is being said. We are also often our own biggest critics through our self-review systems, which is key as that’s how we improve. I think the more you ref the more you also understand that people don’t hate you as a person, but rather the decisions you make or happen to represent.
What has the transition from Southern Hemisphere rugby to the Pro 14 been like for you?
Pro 14 is a real quality tournament, evident by the fact that the teams are hugely successful in the European Cup as well as the Champions and Challenge Cup. Super Rugby is rather different. I find the rugby in Pro14 very positive and well coached.
Its been absolutely wonderful how I’ve been welcomed to the tournament. Thats on several levels. From teams and players’ perspectives, from my fellow referees perspectives who are based in the Northern Hemisphere and now have a Southern Hemisphere ref among them, and certainly the Pro 14, and how that business has welcomed me.
How do you keep fit?
Fitness is something that we don’t really get a choice over! Personally, I don’t spend too much time in the gym, and prefer exercising outdoors through sports like surf ski, trail running and mountain biking.
Do you really know whats happening in the scrums?
Scrums are always going to be a talking point in Rugby, but I do believe that the refs in professional rugby get it right 90% of the time. The pictures and dominance standards we as referees look for are determined and agreed with coaches as well, so teams buy into what constitutes as legal as opposed to illegal dominance. This understanding and collective agreement by everyone is key to ensuring scrums are refereed consistently.
What’s the funniest chirp you’ve heard on a rugby field?
There have been a few, but many are not to be repeated publicly!
One does stand out though as being of the most intelligent I’ve heard over the years. I was refereeing a match between Vryheid and Newcastle around 2005, and one of the spectators shouted: “Referee, you should open up a caravan park!”
I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but a minute later he continued: “The reason you should open up a caravan park is because the opposition are camping on the offside line!”
No doubt the appointments are recognition for the exceptional performances you delivered throughout the tournament. You must be very proud of yourself?
The final and semi-final appointments were really special for me. I never imagined that as a Durban-based referee I’d be in charge of a European rugby final. And therein lies the excitement of what lies ahead for rugby as a whole in the next five years, I think we may be seeing a totally different landscape emerging which should bring back significant interest in the game back home. I think as a referee all you really want is to get what matters and create a game in which the best players’ skills can be brought out.
If we can achieve that, then the game will be attractive and the best teams will win. A lot of that depends on the attitudes of players and coaches as well, and looking back on this final, with 72 points scored, I really believe that we managed to achieve that. It’s a pleasure to referee two teams who want to play rugby.
Life on the road can be fairly lonely for a referee, given that you’re not necessarily in a team environment. How do you cope with all the travelling?
I’m fairly lucky in that I know a fair amount of people in the rugby community in the Northern Hemisphere, and because travel is relatively cheap that side, you get an opportunity to move around from game to game, and also spend time with friends and family. I enjoy going to shows and getting out on the golf course, and there are a number of people out there that enjoy those kind of things with me, so it’s easy.
The other thing that makes it significantly easier is that a trip to that side of the world is an overnight flight, and they’re in the same time zone as us, so it means that I can fly on a Wednesday or Thursday, get there on a Thursday or Friday, and have a game on Saturday, whereas in Super Rugby I’d have to fly a week before because of the time differences and jet lag.
What would be your dream match to officiate? Name the teams, stadium and your touch judges.
There are a few. The Calcutta Cup (England vs Scotland) and England vs New Zealand at Twickenham must rank right up there as two special games to be involved in. As for the touch judges, to be honest, thats pretty difficult. I think myself and Jaco Peyper have a really good understanding of each other with regards to our refereeing styles. I’ve run touch a lot for him at the World Cup and Rugby Championships, and he’s run touch for me in Super Rugby. As a touch judge, when you understand the referee well, you know when to give him information and what’s relevant at that time during that particular game. So Jaco’s definitely one. As for the second one, to be honest, no one really stands out.