Zane Johnson (left) and son Zarne during their level-three days in 2011. Photo / Supplied
Father-son rivalry can get pretty intense no matter what the sport ... just ask Hawke's Bay touch referee Zane Johnson.
Yesterday he chuckled as he recalled an occasion when his son Zarne beat him in a level promotion and during his acceptance speech at a national touch tournament awards function he spent a fair chunk of the chat mocking his father and mentor.
"It was a bit of tongue and cheek stuff which I was okay with but some of the officials took Zarne aside afterwards and reminded him to show more respect for the old man."
Johnson snr, 46, was toasting his 24-year-old France-based son at the weekend when he learned he had emulated the old man by becoming a level-four black badge holder.
"We're New Zealand's first active international father-and-son black badge holders."
A four-time Ngati Kahungunu Sports Awards official award winner, three more than his father, Johnson jnr, who has refereed more than 50 tests - his father has done 37 - recently completed his second European Touch Championships. They were in Wales and his first were in Italy in 2012.
Johnson jnr, who took up touch refereeing in 2005, five years after his father, has been France-based since 2011. He is the code's No1 ref in France and is a level-five badge holder there, which is the equivalent of level four in New Zealand.
In addition to his touch exploits, Johnson jnr has also continued refereeing rugby and has an assistant referee role in the French Top 14 competition. He has also been an assistant referee at this month's Women's World Cup in France.
The Hastings Boys' High School product joins former Central Hawke's Bay College halfback Black Fern Emma Jensen, her teammate and former Tui Claire Richardson and Karamu High School and Ireland halfback Tania Rosser as the Hawke's Bay flavour at the tournament.
"The whole family is pretty proud of Zarne. We refereed a couple of games together at the December IPS tournament in Palmerston North when he was home. We set a couple of goals then ... we both want to be among the referees at next year's World Cup in Australia and again at the 2016 European championships."
A New Zealand High Performance squad member since 2009, Johnson snr has been ranked as high as 15 on the national rankings while his son has been the country's No 11.
Touch New Zealand's regional director of referees for the lower North Island, Johnson snr enjoys developing promising referees.
"I tell them, just like I told Zarne, they will be better than me because I'm getting older and slower.
"Zarne took over me on the national rankings during the 2007-08 summer but I beat him to a black badge in 2012 because he went overseas," Johnson snr said.
"It takes a lot of hard work to remain at this level. You have to score 12 on a beep test. I'm on 11.4 at the moment ... there's plenty of time," Johnson snr said.
The history-making father-son feat was the highlight of a memorable "off season" for Johnson snr. Another was receiving apologies from some of the groups who accused him of conspiring to defraud Touch Hawke's Bay when he was president of the organisation in 2012.
"I was never charged and it was never a police matter. Some of the groups have apologised and we've moved on," Johnson snr said.
Part of his moving on process has been his referee recruitment drive and he couldn't resist the opportunity to put in a plug.
"Anyone wanting to sit the Touch New Zealand level-one referee course will have two opportunities in October, one in Wellington and one in Whanganui, and another in Palmerston North in November. Check out the Touch New Zealand and Central Region Referees websites."