From an accidental start to the Olympic Final via Super Rugby, Rasta Rasivhenge has had a colourful rise to the top of officialdom. The 33-year-old South African referee is joining the Guinness PRO14 for the first five games of the season, progressing his much-storied journey another step. Having been the man in the middle for a decade, Rasivhenge has marshalled at the Olympics, in two Sevens World Cups, the Top14 and Super Rugby, an odyssey which all began by chance… “It started off with me just watching my mate play at university,” Rasivhenge said. “They didn’t have enough players, so I filled in as the 15th – I didn’t make any tackles but never mind! “There was an old man refereeing the game. My mate confronted him about a few tackles, and I went to console this old guy, and he just happened to ask me to join refereeing – they had a recruitment campaign going on at the time. 🗓 | 171 days down. 4 days to go.After a near 6 month wait, #GuinnessPRO14 rugby is finally coming back to the West.Check out the best pics from this morning’s training as preparations continued 📸👉 https://t.co/hhiWULxUK2 pic.twitter.com/IM8Hv2jxsH— Connacht Rugby (@connachtrugby) 1 October 2019
