One of the assistant referees for this weekend's Grand Slam game between Ireland and England at Twickenham attended an England training session on Tuesday.
Alex Lowe of The Times reports Marius van der Westhuizen refereed the session.
Van der Westhuizen will be part of the officiating team for Saturday's game along with Australian Angus Gardner, who will be the referee. Van der Westhuizen's fellow South African Jaco Peyper will be the other assistant referee.
It's said that Ireland were not aware that Van der Westhuizen would be assisting the England team.
World Rugby does allow referees to assist teams in training during international windows to facilitate a better understanding of how the laws of the game are applied.
However, if a referee is scheduled to officiate a game involving that team during that international window or tournament, he cannot assist that team.
Van der Westhuizen was allowed attend the England training session as the same condition does not apply to assistant referees.
From an Irish perspective, it is certainly strange to hear that an official involved in a major game like this weekend's was allowed such proximity to the England team just four days before the match. Surely one of the many other officials in rugby could have been allocated the role.
Van der Westhuizen also ran the line for England's defeat to France at the weekend. He was the referee for one of Ireland's summer tour games against Japan last June along with a November international versus Canada in 2016.
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
