Referee Kaplan rested for August Tests

TOP rugby referee Jonathan Kaplan has been rested from his August Test duties in order to maximise recovery from minor injuries sustained during a road accident last week.

The world’s most experienced Test official was due to take charge of Wales v England at the Millennium Stadium on August 13, Ireland v France at the Aviva Stadium on August 20 and was also to perform the assistant referee duties for England-Wales on August 6 at Twickenham.

Kaplan, who sustained a leg injury in the accident, will now undergo a routine rehabilitation programme to ensure that he is in optimal shape for RWC 2011 in New Zealand, which kicks off on September 9.

IRB referee manager Paddy O’Brien said: “Jonathan is an exceptionally fit referee and he will be fully ready for the start of Rugby World Cup.

“Rather than rush him back to action, we took the decision to give Jonathan the best possible environment to return to peak fitness and conditioning ahead of the tournament.

“The rehabilitation programme is underway and Jonathan is scheduled to referee in the Currie Cup to get match time ahead of Rugby World Cup. I would like to wish him a speedy recovery.”

Kaplan will be replaced by Ireland’s Alain Rolland for Wales v England, with John Lacey replacing Rolland as assistant referee. South Africa’s Craig Joubert will now take charge of Ireland-France with Ireland’s George Clancy stepping up to perform assistant referee duties for England v Wales.

Meanwhile, reserve half-back Luke Burgess will make his Australia return in Saturday’s Bledisoe Cup clash with New Zealand in Auckland after injury, but veteran lock Nathan Sharpe’s World Cup dream is in jeopardy after he was left out of the 24-man touring party.

Burgess returns at the expense of Nick Phipps after recovering from a fractured hand suffered in a freak training accident prior to the Waratahs qualifying semi-final loss against the Blues in June.

But the big surprise is the omission of Nathan Sharpe, who was among the form Australian locks throughout Super Rugby and was a member of the 22 who beat the Springboks nine days ago. Waratahs duo Dan Vickerman and Sitaleki Timani have both jumped ahead of the Western Force skipper in the pecking order after being named in the squad that will travel to Auckland today.

The Wallabies enter Saturday night’s Test level with the All Blacks on five Tri Nations points after both sides easily accounted for the Springboks in their opening matches. However, Robbie Deans’ men face a daunting assignment as they look to end a 25-year Wallabies drought at Eden Park.

Elsewhere, barely one third of New Zealanders are enthusiastic about the Rugby World Cup, a mere five weeks out from the sport’s global showpiece.

A nationwide online poll found only 37 % were looking forward to the tournament, 35% were not, and the remainder had no feelings either way.

The figures were skewed by a marked lack of enthusiasm in the largest South Island province of Canterbury which has been devastated by a series of earthquakes over the past 11 months, pollsters UMR Research said.

Seven World Cup games scheduled for Canterbury were moved away when AMI Stadium in the main city of Christchurch was rendered unusable due to quake damage. The Canterbury result suggested “they are feeling left out after games were moved away from Christchurch,” the survey said.

The September 9-October 23 tournament will be the largest event ever staged in New Zealand, with 85,000 overseas fans expected to attend. The poll, conducted in early July, had a 3.4 % margin of error.