Full-blown.

The most experienced test rugby referee of all time is here in Fiji, today Jonathan Kaplan blew the whistle on the his life of rugby. 

Jonathan Kaplan is a rugby great, a straight shooter and a man that knows his stuff. Right from the outset he is a larger than life character that offers a lot, be it humor, advice or rugby insights, Mr Kaplan lets it all out in a good way.

He is in Fiji is to officiate in the ANZ Pacific Nations Cup. The fact that the number 1 Ref on the globe is actually here cements the fact the competition is highly regarded. Our players from Oceania have the whistle blower that has controlled more games than any other on the international scene, and this type of exposure will only improve our teams for the world arena.
 
Originally from Durban, Jonathan Kaplan measures in at 5-foot 8inches (1.74 meters). From a pretty non-sporting mum & dad, he said “Dad played chess & mum ran from the room to the kitchen once, just the once though!”. However these two did make some sporty off spring. Jonathan’s 2 brothers both played division 1 rugby in South Africa, both are in the front row, one played for Natal Sharks, the other is a black belt in Karate.

Jonathan has a body frame of a fly half in rugby and quickly knew he was not cut out to play rugby, not big enough, or good enough to play. He made a decision early to stay involved in another way. Picking up a whistle was his answer and this has seen him step on most parts of the world in a colorful life.

Now years later and feeling 28 yrs old on the inside, he has been reffing for 26yrs, starting in 1984 as a schoolboy in Johannesburg. At first it was schoolboys and club stuff, it soon propelled forward to become international stuff. 1991 was his debut 1st class match & in 1993 he was introduced to the National Reffing Panel. 1996 he earnt his test blazer with his first international match he blew between Namibia & Zimbabwe, from then on in he has racked up more airmiles than most pilots themselves.   

1997 saw his first overseas assignment and that was in Argentina when they played England. Fridays test between Japan and Fiji will be his 52nd test match, the most any international ref has ever done. He also holds the record for controlling the most Bledisloe Cup matches, 6 so far and about to be 7 in the Tri-Nations.

He has blown 66 super 14 matches, including 3 finals. 123 curry cup matches are under his belt and so far he has been at 3 Rugby world Cups. Starting as a touch judge in Wales, in 2003 he reffed a quarter final in Melbourne, and in 07 in France he blew a semi final. Big time stuff. This kind of exposure and composure makes him the rugby legend he is.

He is a precise character, so much so that he can fire off the exact scores of test matches he has controlled, as well as pretty much tell you how the points were scored. He is very critical of his own performance and is driven to do his part for a better game every time. He said “If players trust me and my management, they will have the best game of their lives with me”.

He works on fitness to keep up with a match and hits the streets 5 or 6 times a week for 12-15 km runs. Having this fitness condition is important, but he believes flair, judgment & nerve are what matters most.

Flair: adds the color to the painting, managing the game and allowing the goodness and best possible result to surface.

Judgment: is the pure ability to see right from wrong.

Nerve: is ability to withstand pressure, which you need a lot of at the top flight level. (crowd pressure, player management etc)

The other area he highlighted was this “Timing of the decision = the correctness of the decision.”

Jonathan relies on his instinct to guide him in the tests. He said Ref’s are very specific animals. Creative reffing skills include- advantage, communication, body language & hand signals. Watching him in action you notice he does use the hands a lot, pointing, waving players away and all this is done to let the game flow, not pull it up for the technicalities.

He is a quite unconventional man, most Refs start in Sevens and move to Fifteens, Mr Kaplan would like to end his career in Sevens, entering the more relaxed area with a high fun component. This is only one example of how he is unique. He said “In the pre match I do not get nervous or excited at all, I am very relaxed and it is just as we run on that I switch on”. “ I have a minimal warm up regime & even the lines I run are different”. “My style produces games that are easy on the eye”.

To see what in demand at the top of the reffing tree means, you need only look at these two numbers- 133 & 213. The first is the most amount of flights Jonathan has made in a year, the second is the most amount of days he has been away from home in a year. Breaking this down into a condensed version, from Monday to Sunday in his peak he would be on 3 flights a week, and he would sleep away from home more than 5 days a week.

In total now he has blown 890 matches, the magic 1,000 is a realistic goal on the radar. Jonathan used to have a 2 hobbies as a kid, one was long distance running, the other was a Ref. He has done a marvelous job of putting the two in a blender and out has come a dream job and existence. These hobbies have become an illustrious career, like his running he has just kept going and going. From his mood and eagerness about rugby one can assume the numbers will keep adding up for him, as well as the stars aligning for more great things.

Right now he is in Fiji for the first time, he is enjoying the experience and already hopes he gets to come back at some stage. One of the highlights of his career is the fact that he also gets to visit new places and see new cultures. From Russia to Fiji and just about every rugby stadium in the world he has been there and controlled that. As he so finely summed up “I have had front row seats for 26yrs!”

Now he is an experienced student of the game of rugby union. Asked what has changed about the players of yesterday compared today? He answered “Bigger, faster, stronger.” The same question was thrown at Jonathan about how has he changed? This response was short and sharp “Wiser”.