Irish Referees In International Finals
Following the recent appointment of George Clancy to the IRB International Referee panel, two other Irish referees continue to make a name for themselves on the European circuit.
Having already featured in the finals of a number of IRB Sevens tournaments, David Keane and Aoife McCarthy have received further representative honours on the international stage.
Aoife McCarthy has followed up her success in refereeing the Hong Kong Sevens final by being appointed to the final of the Women’s European Championship in Amsterdam.
While Ireland’s women finished third in the tournament, Aoife whistled a tight decider between England and Wales.
It has been a hugely successful season for Aoife as she continues to develop as a referee. She is also a regular referee at the IRFU’s Budweiser Tag venues around Dublin so keep an eye out for her this summer.
London was the latest venue in the eight-venue IRB World Sevens Series and 31-year-old Referee Development Officer David Keane made it two finals in a row as he took charge of Samoa and Fiji in a free-flowing affair which Samoa won after a late fightback from their Island neighbours.
This match follows on from Keane officiating at last month’s Adelaide final where South Africa broke New Zealand’s 48-match unbeaten record in a memorable game.
Next stop for Keane is this weekend’s final Sevens event in Edinburgh. He will also be refereeing some Budweiser Tag games this summer so you know you are in good hands!
This has been a hugely successful season for the IRFU referees. The ultimate accolade of course went to Alain Rolland when he took charge of the 2007 Rugby World Cup final.
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