When they had had their showers, got dressed and picked up their togs, two of the three referees for the Super 14 between the Lions and the Reds in Johannesburg carried 32 stitches between them.

Referees are human and so they can get injured but because of the nature of their activity they are more likely to have muscle or hamstring problems - not stitches.

The referee in question was Mark Lawrence, the assistant referee Stu Berry.

Berry of KwaZulu-Natal did not have a rugby injury. Over the Eastern Weekend he was surf-skiing and sustained a gash on his head. There he was on the touchline, a chunk of hair shaved out and 17 stitches to his scalp.

Late in the match Ezra Taylor of the Reds went over for a try and there was Lawrence sitting on the ground. Medics arrived to attend to him as he had a gash on his shin from an errant stud. The medics patched him up and he continued, but afterwards the gash needed 15 stitches. (See above picture!)

Lawrence was able to continue the match but if he had been unable to do so Berry would have stepped in - 17 stitches replacing 15.