15 Jan Leinster Match Program – Article 9

This article appeared in the Glasgow Match Program

A warm welcome to todays match official Marius Mitrea. Born in Romania, Marius moved to Treviso, Italy in 1999 after he finished high school, where he learnt Italian, Spanish, French and English on top of his first Romanian language. In 2006 Marius took up refereeing, and in 2007 he refereed his first match, CUS Padova U15 vs Casale U15 in Padua. He made his international debut in 2010, where he refereed Belgium vs Canada in Brussels.He later refereed in the European Nations Cup before making his Six Nations Championship debut as an assistant referee in 2014 Six Nations Championship. In 2013 he was on the referee panel for the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship, where he refereed 3 matches, including the 7th place game between Australia and Ireland. In September 2015, he went to the 2015 Rugby World Cup as an assistant referee.

New book, same laws

Today Marius will be working off the NEW condensed law book.  World Rugby launched a new, condensed law book as we entered into the new year. The international rugby body had flagged the introduction of a 42 per cent smaller law book, that had the aim of making laws easier to understand. Something which we were all looking forward to.  This new version of the laws uses graphics often to explain rules, a tool aimed at making some of the more complex rules of rugby immediately easier to explain to those new to the game. It’s a welcome change, with one of the greatest criticisms of the laws of rugby union being its different interpretations or misunderstanding of certain laws of the game.

The book was developed by a group of representatives from various areas, Mark Harrington (World Rugby Head of Technical Services and club head coach), Tappe Henning (Scottish Rugby Union Referee Manager and former international referee), Dr Ross Tucker (sports scientist), Rod Hill (New Zealand Rugby Referee Manager), Chris Cuthbertson (Chairman RFU Laws Committee), James Fitzgerald (World Rugby Media Manager and former international referee), Adam Pearson (web designer/illustrator).

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said the law book would help grow rugby. “As our game continues to grow around the world, we continue to strive to make the sport as accessible to all,” he said. The laws can be difficult to understand for new participants and fans and the new law book goes a long way towards simplifying it and making it easier to understand for players, coaches, referees and the viewing public. “This has been a truly collaborative effort with every union given the opportunity to contribute. I’d like to thank them and the working group for their full commitment to an extensive and important process. I believe what they have produced will make a big difference to the game as we seek to make rugby more accessible to all.”

The new law book can be downloaded from the World Rugby Website.

Womens 6 Nations Match Officials features 3 Leinster Referees

World Rugby has announced the match official appointments for the 2018 Women’s Six Nations Championship, which kicks off on Friday, February 2. IRFU referees Joy Neville and Sean Gallagher will take charge of three matches between them, with Kevin Beggs and Brian MacNeice also involved as TMOs.

Following a ground-breaking year for Women’s rugby on and off the field, there is huge anticipation ahead of what promises to be a hugely competitive Six Nations tournament.

World Rugby Referee of the Year and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 final referee, Joy Neville, will referee two matches, Scotland v England and France v England – a repeat of the gripping Ireland 2017 semi-final, which set a Women’s rugby broadcast record of over three million.

Neville made history last night by becoming the first woman to referee a European professional club fixture when she handled the Challenge Cup round 4 match between Bordeaux-Bègles and Enisei-STM at Stade Chaban-Delmas.

In total, 12 of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 match officials team are selected for Six Nations duty, including Spain’s Alhambra Nievas who took charge of the Women’s Sevens final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Sean Gallagher, the 28-year-old Navan clubman, will have the honour of refereeing the 2018 Women’s Six Nations opener between Wales and Scotland in Colwyn Bay on Friday, February 2. World Rugby High Performance 15s Match Official Manager Alain Rolland said: “Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 saw excellent standards of match officiating by a team of well-prepared match officials.

“We now bounce into the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup cycle with a Six Nations selection that features a strong blend of world class international experience and the best emerging talent. All have earned their selection on performance and merit.”

As always feel free to make contact with the Leinster Rugby Referees at denis.collins@leinsterrugby.ie or contact by phone Denis Collins at  01-2235107 or David O’Brien at david.obrien@irfu.ie

If you are interested in becoming a referee get in contact with us through our Facebook and Google + pages, our website www.arlb.ie or through twitter @leinsterreferee.