Irish Referees To The Fore This Summer
Irish match officials will continue their international success later this year, with the announcement of several appointments for key games during the summer and also the addition of some new faces to the IRB Panels.
2007 Rugby World Cup final referee Alain Rolland will take charge of two Tri Nations games this summer – the second Tri Nations game between New Zealand and South Africa and the South Africa v Australia fixture in August.
Alan Lewis, who is the most-capped Heineken Cup referee with 65 games to his name, will take charge of the Wales v South Africa clash at the Millennium Stadium in June and follow that up with opening game of the Tri Nations when New Zealand host South Africa in July.
George Clancy and Peter Fitzgibbon have also established themselves on the international circuit in recent seasons and will take charge of a number of games this summer.
Clancy will referee the Pacific Nations Cup match between Fiji and Japan in Fiji on June 12, and also the clash between New Zealand and Wales a week later in Dunedin.
Fitzgibbon, who is also IRFU Leisure Rugby Referee Development Manager, will handle the Australia v Fiji tie in Canberra in early June before heading for the Pacific Nations Cup to take charge of Samoa v Tonga and Fiji v Tonga.
In addition to this, Simon McDowell will be Assistant Referee for three Tri Nations games – South Africa V New Zealand with Alain Rolland, and the back-to-back games between South Africa and Australia in August and September.
Finally, the IRFU Referee Department was delighted with the news that former Shannon and Munster flyer John Lacey has been added to the IRB Assistant Referee Panel, while Tony Redmond has been selected on the IRB Television Match Official (TMO) Panel.
Click here to view the IRB International match appointments (June to September).
Owen Doyle, the IRFU’s Director of Referee Development, welcomed the appointments of so many Irish officials.
“We are delighted to see Irish officials being recognised at the pinnacle of the game,” he said.
“It is testament to the ground work we do through our Referee Development Officers – David Keane, David McHugh, David O’Brien and David Wilkinson in all four provinces, and to our elite pathway.
“It is particularly pleasing to see John, as a former provincial player, making another step-up in his post playing career.”
Want to be a referee? Click here.