Referees Corner – Issue 14 – Sharks

Today’s match referee is Craig Evans from Wales. Craig began refereeing on the World Rugby Sevens Series in 2016. He has also refereed during the 2020 Olympics. He made his URC / Pro 14 refereeing debut in 2018,and was awarded his first Six Nations Championship match for the match between Italy and Ireland in the 2021 Six Nations Championship. He was appointed to the Tier One select group of referees in June 2021. Evans was voted Principality Premiership Referee of the Year in 2014 and went on to officiate at all Rugby Europe 7s tournaments as well as the Olympic qualifiers. He was previously a personal trainer before joining the WRU.

This will be his 10th time refereeing Leinster, where we have had 7 wins and 2 losses with Evans in charge. We wish the team well today in what should be an entertaining game. 

On Thursday 27th April we held our AGM. Tom Tuohy of Boyne RFC was elected President of the Association following in the footsteps of Gordon Condell of Clondalkin RFC who had an excellent year in charge. Tom has held prior roles in the association including Honorary Secretary for a number of years. We wish him well for the year ahead. We also extend thanks to two members of our committee who have stepped down after many years of service. David MacDonald of Seapoint RFC was Chair of the Management Committee and IRFU Representative and is stepping down at the end of this season. We thank David for all his contributions over the years. Paddy Curran of Roscrea RFC was our Midlands Area Representative for over 15 years. Paddy is well respected across the province and has helped bring many referees through the system as well as ensuring that youth fixtures in the Midlands are appointed to and refereed on a weekly basis. 

On Friday 28th April the annual golf outing of the Leinster Rugby Referees took place. We have not been in a position to host the event in a number of years and were delighted to welcome over 30 referees to Killiney Golf Club. Bryan O’Neill organized the event which included a mixture of active and retired referees battling it out for the Brindley Cup and the Jim Dolan Memorial Plate for Active Referees. Some excellent golf was on show along with some very poor golf but an enjoyable day was had by all. Peter Fagan was the overall winner with Padraig Hearns bringing home the active referees prize. We look forward to getting back into the swing of things and ensuring that this annual event continues to have a prominent place on our calendar. 

Have you just finished playing and find yourself wondering how you can stay involved in rugby or planning on retiring at the end of this season? Then perhaps refereeing is the next step for you. Increasingly, more and more players who have decided to hang up the boots are continuing their rugby journey by taking up the whistle.

Why? Refereeing is an excellent way to maintain your fitness level after you retire. You are still getting out on the pitch and enjoying the game from the best seat in the house. Your playing experience will certainly also stand to you in terms of your ability to read the game and in understanding what the players are trying to achieve.

All the provincial associations/societies have members who are former players, and they referee at all levels from age-grade right up to the All Ireland League. Some have even progressed into High Performance and officiate at the highest level. Andrew Brace, Frank Murphy and Joy Neville all enjoyed distinguished playing careers before taking up the whistle. They all referee in the professional game now.

If you are thinking about giving refereeing a try, contact the Referee Development Manager in Leinster Rugby.

Want to get involved? 

Feel free to make contact with the Leinster Rugby Referees at hayley.whyte@leinsterrugby.ie  If you are interested in becoming a referee get in contact with us through our Facebook, our