Eugene de Villiers, the secretary of the Border Referes' Society reports on a camp held for the Society's elite referees at Elizweni Resorts over the weekend of 28 November 2008.

Thirteen Border referees, those on national panels and fast track panels, attended the camp aimed at testing fitness and discussing the application of Laws.

The idea came from Ronald David, RDO, to have a camp with the purpose of preparing the referees for the SARU regional course in George at the end of January. SARU provided two representatives, namely Eugene Daniels and Louis Mzomba, as educators for the application of the ELVs and the difficult laws governing tackle, ruck and maul.

A bleep fitness test was also conducted to ensure that the referees are on track as they had to reach the SARU minimum of 12.1 in January. De Villiers said: "They surpassed our expectation on the bleep test. All I have to worry about now is the festive season. However they are highly committed and disciplined and I expect them to pass the Border minimum testsin mid-January 2009 and go to George for the final SARU fitness test and Law examinations and needless to say pass it.

"The camp ended in high spirits and the comradeship among the referees was evident. This camp is a first of its kind in South Africa to prepare provincial referees for SARU regional courses."

The following Border referees are now on SARU panels"

Provincial Panel 12 (in merit order)

11. Bongani Maloni

Contenders Squad (Top 5 ranked; thereafter in alphabetical order)

Merit order:

2. Lusanda Jam

Alphabetical order

Gladile Mveliso

Candidates (alphabetical):

Tony Duminy
Amos Swartz

Women’s Provincial Panel (merit order)

4. Sipokazi Njani

Specialised Assistant Referees' Panel (alphabetical)

Mandla Dakuse

Academic Squad

George Duma
Sazi Katiya