adminMehluli Sibanda Senior Sports Reporter
RETIRED record breaking South African international rugby referee Jonathan Kaplan made a three day visit to the country as a guest of Falcon College of Esigodini.
The South African arrived in Zimbabwe last Thursday and leaves today. On the day he arrived in the country, he spoke to referees from the Matabeleland Rugby Referees Society as well as players from Falcon College on the laws of the game.
Kaplan then proceeded to Harare on Friday where he was a guest at a Falcon College golf dinner held at Borrowdale Brook Golf Course as part of the school’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
Yesterday, Kaplan handled a schools rugby fixture between Falcon College and Saint Johns College played at St Johns College.
Kaplan who started refereeing in 1984 retired from handling international matches at the end of last year and ended his career as the most decorated rugby referee with 70 Tests to his name. The 47-year-old is still involved with refereeing of schools rugby matches in his home province, Western Cape, and is also involved in coaching the University of Cape Town rugby team.
Kaplan finished his refereeing career with nine matches at the International Rugby Board Rugby World Cup, 107 Super Rugby matches and 161 Currie Cup matches.
The retired referee had some words of encouragement for the Matabeleland referees, urging them to have a passion for what they do if they aim to make it to the top.
“You have to develop a passion for what you do, it took me years to get to the top but I enjoyed each and every game that I handled, learnt a lot from the mistakes I made.
“The societies have to develop incentives for the referees to keep them interested,’’ said Kaplan.
The South African said he hopes to visit the country for a longer period in the near future to impart some of his knowledge to local referees.
derick.khumalo