Cape Town - Former Springbok utility back Dawie Snyman has hit out at the performances of the match officials in Saturday’s Super Rugby encounter between the Stormers and Reds at Newlands.
Stormers coach Robbie Fleck expressed his disappointment afterwards at what he described as “cheap shots” from the Reds that went unpunished by the officials.
The most notable incident saw Reds prop Taniela Tupou escape punishment in the ninth minute after a no-arms, high tackle.
Tupou was however cited afterwards.
The referee for the match was Marius van der Westhuizen, who was assisted by Egon Seconds and Rasta Rasivhenge, with Christie du Preez the television match official (TMO).
In an interview with Netwerk24, Snyman said Van der Westhuizen should be punished for his failure to control matters.
“The referee should be suspended for a year. The Reds’ behaviour was criminal. It’s unacceptable that players are exposed to such things,” Snyman said.
Fleck, whose side won 25-19, added: "We are disappointed about cheap shots they dished out early in the game that were not recognised by the referee. There were at least four incidents that were not dealt with and that frustrated us. We were the dominant team but poor execution let us down."
This is the second time in as many weeks that Van der Westhuizen has made the news for the wrong reasons.
Earlier this month, he was stood down from his role as an assistant referee for the Six Nations clash between England and Ireland at Twickenham after World Rugby admitted they had erred in clearing him to attend an England training session in the week.
Van der Westhuizen refereed England's training session at their Bagshot squad base just five days before he was due to run the line in their match against Ireland.
World Rugby regulations bar match referees from working with competing teams in the build-up to a Test but no such prohibition exists for their assistants.
But, ahead of a high-profile fixture, World Rugby acted to avoid any hint of a conflict of interest.
Van der Westhuizen was subsequently replaced by Welshman Nigel Owens.
The tackle Taniela Tupou has been cited for. Not good.. pic.twitter.com/PlKUGF5wUC
— Steve Lenthall (@steve_l15) March 25, 2018
