Match officials announced for Rugby World Cup 2015
Experienced 12-member referee panel named with 361 tests between them
Seven of the panel were involved in RWC 2011
Seven ARs and four TMOs also named
Appointments for pool stages announced later this year
World Rugby has announced the 12-member panel that will referee at Rugby World Cup 2015 as well as the seven assistant referees and four television match officials who will also officiate in matches at the game’s showcase tournament, which starts on 18 September.
France will provide three referees in the form of Jérôme Garcès, Romain Poite and Pascal Gauzere. New Zealand, South Africa, England and Ireland will provide two each with one from the Welsh Rugby Union.
The full list of referees with their union and number of tests in brackets is: Wayne Barnes (RFU, 57), George Clancy (IRFU, 38), JP Doyle (RFU, 12), Jérôme Garcès (FFR, 22), Pascal Gauzere (FFR, 17), Glen Jackson (NZR, 10), Craig Joubert (SARU, 55), John Lacey (IRFU, 13), Nigel Owens (WRU, 60), Jaco Peyper (SARU, 20), Romain Poite (FFR, 39) and Chris Pollock (NZR, 18).
In addition, the full list of assistant referees with their union and number of tests as AR in brackets is: Federico Anselmi (UAR, five), Stuart Berry (SARU, 15), Mike Fraser (NZR, 10), Angus Gardner (ARU, two), Leighton Hodges (WRU, 19), Marius Mitrea (FIR, 13), Mathieu Raynal (FFR, nine).
The television match officials for the six-week tournament are: George Ayoub (ARU, 33), Graham Hughes (RFU, 60) Ben Skeen (NZR, 11) and Shaun Veldsman (SARU, 50).
The selection was made after a comprehensive review of refereeing performances by the World Rugby Match Official Selection Committee.
Chairman of the selection panel John Jeffrey said: “I want to congratulate all 12 referees, the seven ARs and four TMOs, who through very hard work and determination, have made it onto the panel for this year’s Rugby World Cup.
“Since Rugby World Cup 2011, we have been focused on developing a strong panel that can preside over the 48 matches at this year’s tournament. The fact that seven of the referee panel were involved in the 2011 tournament points to the big-match experience that they hold. Indeed, between the 12 of them, they have refereed no fewer than 361 internationals.
“The five referees who were not at RWC 2011 have done very well to progress through their own pathways, in SANZAR, in Europe and from the World Rugby U20 Championship, to make it to the biggest stage of all. The focus for all these match officials at this point is on consistency and performing at the highest level.”
The individual match appointments will be announced in due course.
World Rugby Match Official Selection Committee consists of John Jeffrey (Chairman), Lyndon Bray (SANZAR), Andrew Cole (SANZAR), Donal Courtney (EPCR), Clayton Thomas (Six Nations) and World Rugby High Performance Match Official Manager Joël Jutge.
All international match official performances are reviewed and assessed in detail. This comprehensive process includes self-assessment by the match officials themselves as well as by independent assessors, coaches and members of the selection panel.
In addition, the panel is subjected to constant physical monitoring and assessment with physical performance being an important criterion in the selection process to ensure the highest possible standards. After each match, the data is downloaded into a web-based performance analysis system and the data is made available to the referees and their conditioning coaches.
The World Rugby match officials at Rugby World Cup 2015 are sponsored by Emirates.
About Rugby World Cup: Rugby World Cup is the financial engine behind unprecedented investment and growth in rugby worldwide. The net Rugby World Cup surplus from the commercial success of France 2007 and New Zealand 2011 has enabled World Rugby to invest more than £150 million in the game between 2009 and 2012 and commit an anticipated injection of more than £180 million between 2013 and 2016 to underwrite a large range of major funding initiatives including annual national union grants and strategic investments focusing on growing participation and increasing competition across all 120 national member unions affiliated to World Rugby.
About England 2015: Rugby World Cup 2015, hosted in England between 18 September and 31 October, will be a celebration of rugby and its unique character-building values, exciting and inspiring the nation and the world to play and support the game. England Rugby 2015 are the organising committee for Rugby World Cup 2015 and will deliver the six-week tournament, hosted in 10 English cities and in Cardiff, Wales. Thirteen match venues will play host to the 48 games that will celebrate and engage more than two million spectators, including more than 400,000 international travelling fans.
Tackle Hunger: Tackle Hunger is a partnership between World Rugby and its official humanitarian partner, the UN World Food Programme, which highlights the importance of good nutrition not just to play rugby but to enable children to develop both physically and mentally. For Rugby World Cup 2015, the Tackle Hunger Million Meal Challenge aims to generate one million meals for the WFP school feeding programme to help nourish the bodies and minds of the world’s hungry children. A series of planned activations including profile-raising events, donation opportunities, social media activity and in-stadia messaging is encouraging the rugby family to take up the challenge to help build a brighter future for undernourished children.
