Ben van Berkel: Wellington Rugby Referees Association president on the organisation not appointing officials this weekend amid abuse episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 6, 2026 · 2 MIN

Ben van Berkel: Wellington Rugby Referees Association president on the organisation not appointing officials this weekend amid abuse

from Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive · host Newstalk ZB

The Wellington Rugby Referees Association has opted not to appoint officials for this weekend’s fixtures amid ongoing abuse. The move follows three instances of verbal abuse of referees during weekend games. Wellington Rugby Referees Association president and chair Ben van Berkel says this follows an accumulation of incidents that took place over the past year.  "Referees are a resilient bunch, but we've also said that the behaviour we walk past on is the behaviour we accept - so we want to make sure that we report all the incidents this year." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Ben van Berkel: Wellington Rugby Referees Association president on the organisation not appointing officials this weekend amid abuse

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