Peter Allan has been in charge of a number of high profile Magners league and Heineken Cup pool matches, a very demanding England v Ireland A international and has been involved as touch judge in the recent RBS 6 Nations.
Andy Macpherson has been a regular at both Magners and ERC Challenge Cup, refereed Romania v Russia and has also taken charge of two RBS 6 Nations U20 games.
Neil Paterson is progressing well at Magners and ERC Challenge Cup level. He refereed Portugal v Georgia, in weather conditions more suitable to a Scottish winter than a Portugese spring, and an RBS 6 Nations U20 game. Neil is currently in the pool of referees being appointed to the IRB World sevens series and, to date, has seen action in Wellington, San Diego, Hong Kong and Adelaide, with London and Edinburgh to come.
Andrew McMeneny is now well established at Premier 1 and has recently refereed Ireland U19 v Italy U19. All our Academy referees have progressed to being tested at Premier 3 level with James Matthew reaching Premier 2.
Blake’s Seven (Months)
As the newest member to the referee’s team Rachel Blake (Referee Co-ordinator) looks back on her ‘rollercoaster experience’ within Referee Department to date.
“I joined Roy and the Referee Development Managers just before last season’s Autumn Tests, and quickly realised the complexity of balancing the travel and accommodation needs for both incoming and outgoing match officials. As the Magners League and Heineken Cup unfolded, I realised the magnitude of co-operation and diligence required between staff at the SRU and the other nations, relating to last minute call-offs and changes, to ensure the success of every match we were involved in. I recognise the wealth of knowledge that ‘cushions’ me within the Referees and greater Rugby Division environment.
The role of Referee Co-ordinator is hugely diverse and responsible for providing match officials for schoolchildren right up to top ranking international games. It is aspects like this of the role that makes it exciting, and I can safely say I have never been bored. One project I have really enjoyed being involved with is the referee’s recruitment poster. From the outside, one would imagine the co-ordination of the subjects with the photographer to be a pretty straightforward process. The reality has been three months of stumbling blocks from non availability of our referee models to adverse weather conditions postponing the photo shoot.
I’m now looking forward to experiencing my first IRB Edinburgh 7s and, contrary to any preconceived notions, I can honestly say that referees are by far the least complicated and possibly one of the more rewarding aspects of the organisation!”
Andrew MacPherson (pictured left), Robert Mackinnon, David Walker (pictured right), Graham Knox and Andrew Healy have all been involved in international fixtures – here Andrew shares his thoughts on officiating at the England v Ireland women’s game:
“Refereeing a first international, at whatever level, is a unique experience. Coupled with the fact England was going for its third RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam in as many seasons, it made for a fantastic day. The game was a hard fought encounter and although England were 10-0 up after as many minutes, the rest of the match was fairly even and kept me on my toes throughout! England won 17-7 and duly achieved a third Grand Slam, however Ireland was also happy with its performance and, thankfully, both coaches seemed reasonably happy with the referee!”
The West of Scotland Rugby Referees Society held a well attended Annual Dinner at GHA RFC in March. Among the awards, Most Improved Referee went to Jonathan Gemmell from Ayr and the Best New Referee to Alistair Watt from Cumbernauld. Jim McCabe received the “Above and Beyond” Award for all the extra work he does for the Society.
As the League season draws to a close, Edinburgh referees can look back on some 1700 games that have been covered by the Society referee.
James Matthew, only in his third season as a referee, has made significant strides thanks to his involvement with the National Referees Academy. Regularly officiating at Premier 3 level, he recently took control of his first Premier 1 game in a cup match between Biggar and GHA and was also selected to referee at the U17 festival at Millfield.
At the Edinburgh Referees Society annual dinner in February, Referee of the Year award was presented to Kevin McGhee, who has taken charge of a few Premier 3 games and also had the opportunity to develop his skills in the National Referee Academy. A first time Award for Outstanding Services to the Society deservedly went to Liam Gibson who, over the season, has refereed around 50 matches.
As most referees look forward to a summer without the whistle, Johann Van Der Mervwe will be blowing a little longer as he has been selected to represent the SRU on a referee exchange program to Canada – a great opportunity to develop his skills and experience the Canadian style of play.
Chris Webster, in his first season following completion of the Level 1 and Level 2 Refereeing Courses is now officiating at National 2. Following a setback due to a knee injury, Charles Samson is being looked after by Scotland team physio Stuart Barton and hopes to be fit and well for next season.
The Aberdeen Society’s meetings have included technical sessions on scrums and management while Midlands ’ meetings have covered a technical session from president Graeme Marshall, Malcolm Changleng talking about his experiences at the World Cup and Iain Goodall discussing discipline. Highlands’ meetings have also covered technical sessions on Scrums, Contact Area and Management.
Training nights have continued with a healthy group of regulars mixing fitness work and games of football and basketball – it has obviously worked as testing results have been very positive.
Promotion within the SRU group for Andrew McMenemy and Cammy Rudkin has been positive although the loss of Malcolm Changleng as Professional Referee has been unfortunate. His assistance with training nights and provision of video clips has been invaluable.
A number of Level One courses have been run with good turnouts of those interested in both refereeing for their school and club. It is also hope a few will consider taking up the whistle for the Society. A Touch Judging course was also run in conjunction with Melrose RFC as the Society are providing officials for their 125 th Sevens Festival.
The performance phase of the Academy has been very pleasing with all members performing well above the level they started at the beginning of the season.
James Matthew has been promoted to Grade 5 and represented Scotland at the Millfield U17 Festival while Kevin McGhee and Charles Samson have both refereed their first Premier 3 games. Brett Williams has spent a month back in his native New Zealand though learnt a lot during the season. All four have had experience as fifth official at professional games and have also been appointed to a number of games, as a team of three, providing additional experience.
Recent meetings have covered various areas of coaching and also personal development, with the last event attended by Paul Honiss and Bryce Lawrence from the IRB panel who both provided excellent advice.
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Peter Allan has been in charge of a number of high profile Magners league and Heineken Cup pool matches, a very demanding England v Ireland A international and has been involved as touch judge in the recent RBS 6 Nations.
Andrew MacPherson (pictured left), Robert Mackinnon, David Walker (pictured right), Graham Knox and Andrew Healy have all been involved in international fixtures – here Andrew shares his thoughts on officiating at the England v Ireland women’s game:
As the League season draws to a close, Edinburgh referees can look back on some 1700 games that have been covered by the Society referee.