Last weekend saw him in Edinburgh to notch up his 100th Sevens game as a referee when he took charge of the Cup quarter-final between New Zealand and Argentina.

Former international referee and head of the IRFU Referee Department, Owen Doyle, welcomed the achievement:

"David is one of the most respected Sevens referees in world rugby. It is an outstanding achievement to reach 100 games and we salute him for it," he said.

Keane has also been included on the referee panel for the forthcoming Women's Rugby World Cup.

He is no stranger to international tournaments, having captained the 40-strong match official panel at the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in Dubai last year.

He played rugby up until the age of 17 when an injury ended his playing career. Wanting to continue his involvement with the game, he took up refereeing at his school, Clongowes Wood.

Now 33, the Dubliner is well known on the domestic scene and has refereed matches in the Magners League and European Challenge Cup as well as underage and 'A' internationals.

He made his representative debut when he refereed the Namibia v Tunisia Rugby World Cup qualifier in Windhoek in October 2006.

In other referee news and following an unfortunate injury to RFU official Greg Garner, former Shannon and Munster winger John Lacey will travel to Argentina for the upcoming IRB Junior World Championship.

He has already received his first match appointment and will referee the crucial encounter between hosts Argentina and England, who are two of Ireland's Pool B opponents.

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