Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesothorugby is set to be significantly boosted by the on-going ground-breaking initiative, of online training for referees and coaches of match officials.
This is to be carried out by Rugby Africa, aimed at enhancing refereeing skills in the key focus areas of the game. The seven-week programme kicked off
on May 19 and is facilitated by World Rugby High Performance 15s Match Officials Manager Alain Rolland via the Zoom platform, with one-hour sessions held every fortnight on Tuesdays. 42
participants from Rugby Africa Member Unions are in for a treat as the training covers topics such as breakdown (tackle and ruck), scrum, foul play, lineout
/maul, space, and any other business and wrap up. Lesotho is represented by Realeboha
Segoete and Thato Mphulenyane in the categories of coaches of match officials and referees, respectively. In an interview with Informative Sport, Segoete expressed his delight on the programme so far, citing its benefits to the
Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR) in various aspects. “I’ve been part of the first two sessions and it’s a very refreshing interactive programme equipping us with skills
to enhance our level of understanding when it comes to the laws of the game,” said the Likatola head coach. “We learn about some new laws, how to eliminate
some officiating mistakes, and how a referee is supposed to relate and communicate with the players. As a national team coach, I’d be in a good position to also teach my players about
some of the amendments to the laws – the entire rugby community in the country is going to benefit from this initiative.” Rugby Africa Referee Manager Mudiwa
Mundawarara indicated that pandemic-induced movement restrictions have forced Rugby Africa to resort to the use technology, while more women are to be included in the upcoming programmes.
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This will very much be the case going forward and will enable us to take such development initiatives more widely than just to the Rugby Africa Panel,” said Mundawarara. Noteworthy, has been our insistence
on the inclusion of women for these workshops. The numbers are still low, but this is a start. We hope to address this through development initiatives aimed specifically at women match officials.”
World
Rugby has launched similar programmes for other continents such as South America, North America and Asia. World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “As we navigate the
unprecedented global challenge caused by the COVID-19 situation, we are using the lockdown environment as an opportunity to ensure that the sport is in
optimal position when we restart by sharing knowledge, delivering courses and building further capacity through a series of ground-breaking webinars and workshops.”
FLR Secretary General Litšitso Motšeremeli said the duo from Lesotho was selected among those who had applied for the opportunity as it was advertised by FLR on social media early May. The referees
are expected to learn more about their responsibilities and a crucial aspect in officiating – the laws of the game. “We’ve had this challenge of refereeing for a while now, and an opportunity such as this would equip our
referees with skills,” Motšeremeli said. “Most of our referees are also players, so we need to draw the line there and equip them with proper skills. They’re going to learn a lot from these two, especially the laws governing rugby.”
