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Kaplan returns to professional rugby as MLR's refereeing tsar

09 Aug 2020

Referee Jonathan Kaplan looks on during the round eight Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and the Waratahs in 2013 (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Major League Rugby (MLR) have confirmed reports that Jonathan Kaplan will lead the appointment and development of match officials for the 2021 season. Kaplan will also be assisted by Chris Pollock in a technical advisor role.

Between them, Kaplan and Pollock have refereed at six Rugby World Cups and 96 international matches, including five Lions Tours.

“We are pleased to welcome Jonathan Kaplan and Chris Pollock to Major League Rugby,” said Commissioner George Killebrew. “Their caliber speaks for itself and their experience at the highest level will no doubt be beneficial for our growing pool of officials.”

Jones talks rugby’s return in England

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Jones talks rugby’s return in England

Eddie Jones, Steve Grainger RFU Rugby Development Director, Claudia MacDonald and Bill Sweeney, CEO of RFU. Eddie Jones joins a local teenage club at the Twickenham Stadium to launch a new form of socially distanced, government approved non-contact game called Ready4Rugby.

The duo will focus on developing existing talent in North America and supplementing this pool with referees from overseas.

“We are both very excited to be able to contribute to the refereeing landscape in MLR,” said Kaplan. “We’re hoping to use our experience and knowledge of the game at the elite level to identify and develop match officials with the express aim of improving the quality of the game in MLR and in North America.”

“We recognize the importance of the man in the middle in facilitating an action packed and easy to understand game for fans to fall in love with. We look forward to using Jonathan and Chris’ expertise to help lead this,” said Killebrew in a statement.

Kaplan began refereeing in 1984, while still a high school student. He made his first-class debut in 1991 and was appointed to South Africa’s national panel of referees in 1993. In 1996 he made his international debut in a match between Namibia and Zimbabwe in Harare.

Some of Kaplan’s other notable games in charge include the first ever game in the Six Nations Championship, between Italy and Scotland in 2000, the second test between the British and Irish Lions and Australia in 2001 and the third test between the Lions and New Zealand in 2005.

He officially retired as a referee in 2013.

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Stalle li 31 minutes ago

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YeowNotEven 50 minutes ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Would have been awesome to have a Bledisloe ANZAC game.

It would suck if they had it in Perth every year though. Gotta get it to Eden park.

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David Gomiez 51 minutes ago

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Spew_81 53 minutes ago

Hurricanes vs Waratahs takes: The yellow wall in midfield, Tahs backs outshined

Love should get some time at 10. He’s clearly got the ability to be a second playmaker, but primarily at 15. Some time at 10, even just standing at first receiver, will only help his playmaking skills. He set up two tries with good distribution.

He kicks goals well. He could be a second B Barrett. But keep his main position at 15.

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SG 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

England have absolutely no need for him. Tom Willis and Ben Earl are better with a much higher work rate.

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Thomas Walsh 1 hour ago

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JW 1 hour ago

'Ulster, though no one wants to admit it, isn't much more than a development province right now.'

No full games on the IRU YT channel unfortunately, all on subscription? Looks a fairly good level (1A).

Yes I mean I wouldn’t really know the local ratio of origin here, but certainly as a province with less resources mine has a ratio that veers heavily towards club rep. The club stories are often the best so get probably an imbalanced proportion of coverage to where most players actually come from though.

Those were a couple of Ulster (regional) clubs too, good good. Those clubs/size towns are very much where you find most talent coming from (compared to the big city), so your productivity depends very much on your systems in place for scouting talent. With the more wealthy and popular sport of NRL (hence more info out there) I’ve seen some interesting studies on player origins in this respect, which I think would be a very balanced base of data to draw conclusions from.

Yes I’m wondering how those names as examples compare to the likes of Bryne getting squeezed out for a lack of places. I’m only thinking of effects far down the line as a result of Irelands #1 ranking and increased publicity/interest and how Irelands system will take advantage of them.

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GP 1 hour ago

James O'Connor earns first Crusaders start against Moana Pasifika

Regarding the Crusaders side . Great to see promising young lock Jamie Hannah back in the starting team. He has certainly been through the mill since debuting for the Crusaders, even before playing for Canterbury. All his hard work has paid off. Antonio Shalfoon , who has been rested for this match has been amazing locking with AB captain Scott Barrett. I really rate Jamie Hannah as one of the best young locks of which there are a few coming through. Including his Canterbury and Crusaders team mate Liam Jack. Father is Graham Jack ,he played for Canterbury and the Crusaders in the 1990’s. Older brother of Chris, who of course was an All Black.

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Andrew Nichols 1 hour ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Gloucester are in the market for a top-class replacement ..Well why would they then be talking to HS?

7 Go to comments

Utiku Old Boy 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

I include Cunningham-South. He was born in England but moved to NZ at 4 yrs and learnt his rugby there. His dad was a schoolboy coach. In recent years, Teimana Harrison was - as was Brad Shields.

7 Go to comments

GB 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Cunningham-South was born in the UK but raised in NZ.

Makes a good point, wouldn't walk into the English set up.

Better to roll his sleeves up and play himself into the ABs

7 Go to comments

Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Not sure what the ethical issue is. If it’s going for the money, it’s either do that or NZ rugby slowly dies as all the better players leave. So it’s the more lesser of two evils. Sell out a bit more as a Union, or the players sell out one by one.

42 Go to comments

Spew_81 2 hours ago

Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yes, the team was similar. But the two locks made a huge difference. Kaino wasn’t a lock and Tuipolutu has only very recently started playing close to his potential (his work rate was terrible until recently).

The Irish lineout maul wouldn’t have been the weapon it was on that day if Hansen started Whitelock and Retallick (or even two proper locks). Though they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

Doing the new haka when the Irish were mourning a great of theirs didn’t help. The action at the end of that haka has been interpreted negatively and some see it as a but disrespectful.

Still if the All Blacks did their normal haka they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

42 Go to comments

Koro Teeps 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Absolutely no certainty he would make the current English squad. He’s not in the All Black conversation either. Physical, explosive player with ball in hand but sometimes struggles to impose himself fully on all aspects of the game.

7 Go to comments

DC 2 hours ago

All Black's England switch hanging by a thread

Who are the Kiwis (plural)? The only one I can think of is Ethan Root.

7 Go to comments

Gradier Walter 4 hours ago

Don't get out over your skis on the Highlanders