New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence says he will not referee in South Africa again if he receives personal threats following his performance in the controversial Rugby World Cup quarterfinal clash between Australia and South Africa.
Lawrence was slammed by South African players, fans and media for his refereeing of the breakdown following the Springboks' 11-9 defeat to the Wallabies in Wellington. Retiring Springboks skipper John Smit said "the one positive [of retirement] is that I won't ever have to be reffed by him again".
A Facebook campaign set up a platform for abuse towards Lawrence and one South African radio station claimed to have prank-called him in the middle of the night.
Lawrence told Radio Sport yesterday he was aware trouble could arise if he had to referee a game in South Africa in next year's Super 15.
"I'm not totally concerned," he said. "I know a lot of other people like the NZRU and Sanzar have some serious concerns. In all honesty, I'm not going to go over there if there's any personal threat or I have concerns about my safety because, in the end, it's a job. I know that and also it's just a sport so I'm not going to put myself at risk."
He said other people were looking into the safety aspect and he would be taking their advice.
"I'll referee South African teams in Super Rugby. It may be in Australia or New Zealand that I referee them and I'm sure the criticism will resurface every time I do."
Lawrence admitted he did not have a great quarterfinal and he wastrying to minimise making technical errors.
Being left out of the Six Nations panel was a consequence of his poor performance at the World Cup, he said.
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