Referees Corner – Issues 13 – 2024/25 – Glasgow Warriors

A very warm welcome to another edition of referees corner for our last URC regular league game of the season. A warm welcome to today’s game and to today’s match official Ben Whitehouse and his team from the Welsh Rugby Union. He is currently one of four professional referees at Welsh Rugby Union alongside Craig Evans, Dan Jones and Ben Breakspear .

Whitehouse, the son of Welsh great Nigel Whitehouse, started refereeing at the age of 19, during the 2009/10 European season and since then he has come through the ranks at the Welsh Rugby Union, refereeing at the Union’ top level the Principality Premiership. He was part of the Welsh Rugby Union referees academy in 2013 and refereed in the 2014 Junior World Trophy.  Later that year, he appeared in his first B and I Cup.

He refereed his first professional game, Connacht v Zebre in the 2014/15 season and he also made his international debut, refereeing Belgium v Sweden. In the 2015/16 season, he became a regular appointment at Pro12 level, and made his first European appearance. He later made his Champions Cup debut, refereeing Leicester v Treviso. He had his first World Rugby international appointment, assistant referee for the second and third test of Ireland’s tour of South Africa. Whitehouse was appointed as TMO for the Rugby World Cup 2021 final between New Zealand and England at Eden Park on 12 November, 2022, having been one of four TMOs named on the panel for the tournament. He made his men’s Rugby World Cup debut as a TMO at France 2023 with nine matches in the role, including the Argentina v New Zealand semi-final and the bronze final. He is ably assisted today by USRFR referees Keane Davidson and Stuart Gaffikin. Keith David is the TMO. 

We would like to extend our congratulations to the referees appointed to the Lions tour. Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Andrea Piardi (Italy) and Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) will each take charge of one Lions test in Australia with Richard Kelly (New Zealand), Eric Gauzins (France) and Marius Jonker (South Africa) the three Television Match Officials selected. Piardi and Nika Amashukeli become the first Italian and Georgian respectively to take charge of a Lions test.

James Doleman (New Zealand) will referee the opening test of the July window with the Lions encounter with Argentina in Dublin on 20 June, with Amashukeli taking charge of the final match with the third Lions test in Sydney on 2 August. Also congratulations go to Andrew Brace, Eoghan Cross and Olly Hodges on their summer international appointments. 

The annual dinner of the Leinster Rugby Referees is the highlight of our somewhat limited social calendar and is always a great event. It takes place tonight during which our hugel anticipated awards will be handed out.  There are five main awards, one for lifetime achievement, one for referee of the year, another for refereeing performance of the year, one for the referee who progressed the most during the year and one for club of the year. 

The lifetime achievement award is named after Ham Lambert who passed away a few years ago. Ham was an Irish cricketer, rugby union player and later international rugby referee. By profession a veterinary surgeon, he was noted for being the first in Ireland to own a practice devoted to the care of companion animals. The award for referee of the year is named after Harold ‘Harry’ Ardill. Harry was instrumental in developing, recruiting and educating referees within Leinster. The Club of the Year award is named after Terry Doyle, former President of the association. The award was named after Terry in 2011 and the first recipients were Edenderry RFC. 

The Alain Rolland Referee Performance of the Year was won last year by Padraic Reidy and is named after the great Alain Rolland. The final award is the Denis Collins Perpetual Award for Progressive Referee. Presented by the great man himself, this award is for the referee who was seen to progress the most during the season, and has shown themselves to have put in time and effort into their own development. A great night is anticipated. 

We have had an amazing season. During the season we made over 5,565 appointments. This is an increase of 525 matches which represents a 10.5% increase on last season. However, year on year this is an increase of over 1,000 in 2 years which is a 23% in two years. Apart from our 253 active referees, our thanks must go to those volunteers who gave up their time to support the match officials. These number more than 80 individuals covering activities such as panel management, mentoring, evaluation, coaching and administration. 

Want to get involved? 

Referees provide a vital function in servicing all levels of the game. Refereeing is also a fantastic hobby and is increasingly becoming a genuine alternative to playing the game.

Whether you have aspirations to referee at the highest level or to referee locally, there is a place for you. There are excellent support structures in place to develop referees and a thriving social aspect too.

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 website www.leinsterrugbyreferees.ie or through X @leinsterreferee.