Owens joins exclusive club
Seven has proved a lucky number for Nigel Owens of Mynyddcerrig in Carmarthenshire, who is the seventh referee to referee the World Cup Final, but then it is a lucky number to so many people, a significant number – seven sacraments, seven hills of Rome (although there are actually more), seven wonders of the world, seven days in the week, and, less auspiciously, seven deadly sins.
The refereeing world would like seven to be a lucky number for Owens who has had a splendid world up, as he referees the World Cup Final at Twickenham on Saturday, between Australia and New Zealand.
Of the referees for the seven World Cup Finals before this one, all but one are still alive and on Saturday they will get their sixth living member – Nigel Owens. The referee who has died is Kerry Fitzgerald who refereed the very first one.
There has been one fewer Final referees than the number of Finals because André Watson refereed two of them.
The referees for the eight Finals
1987: Kerry Fitzgerald (Australia)
1991: Derek Bevan (Wales)
1995: Ed Morrison (England)
1999: André Watson (South Africa)
2003: André Watson (South Africa)
2007: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
2011: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
2015: Nigel Owens (Wales)
The elite handful.
At the 1987 World Cup, the Final was at Eden Park, as it was in 2011, 24 years later.
The referee in the Final in 19876 was Kerry Fitzgerald, one of two Australian referees to referee at the inaugural World Cup. (The other Australian referee was Bob Fordham.) Fitzgerald refereed the semifinal between New Zealand and Wales and then the Final between New Zealand and France.
Fitzgerald of Brisbane started refereeing in 1977 and in 1984 refereed his first Test – New Zealand vs Fiji in Suva. He went on to referee at the 1991 World Cup as well, when Australia were in the Final. His last match there was the semifinal between England and Scotland, his 26th and last Test. That match was on 26 October 1991. Fitzgerald, a remarkably fit man, went home to Brisbane after the World Cup and died suddenly less than two months later.
Kerry Victor Joseph Fitzgerald was 43 when he died in his office of a heart attack.
The 1991 World Cup Final was at Twickenham. The referee was Derek Bevan of Wales who refereed at the first four World Cups – in 1987 in New Zealand, 1991, in England and other countries, 1995 in South Africa and in 1999 in Wales and other countries. He started refereeing in 1968 after an accident underground in a coal mine and refereed his first Test in L'Aquila when Italy played Romania in 1984, his last un Dublin in 1999 when Ireland played Italy. When he retired he held the world record of 44 Tests. He claimed to be 50 when he retired, though there were some who doubted his age!
In 1991 he refereed the Final, in 1995 the semifinal in flooded Durban when the Springboks just beat France, and again a semifinal in 1999 when the Wallabies just beat the Springboks.
William Derek Bevan was born in Clydach and lived there all his life. The electrician was made Member of the British Empire for his services to rugby. He has an autobiography – The Man in the Middle.
In 1995, the political situation in South Africa changed, the World Cup was held there, the first time it was held in one country. Each country had referees at the tournament. Not all of them actually refereed though several did in the pool stages – Moon Hoo San of Korea, Dan Reordan of the USA, George Gadjovich of Canada, Epharim Sklar of Argentina, Noaki Saito of Japan and Feleti Vito of Western Samoa. The 'major' countries each had two referees at the tournament. England's duo were Steve Lander and Ed Morrison who was then 44 years of age.
Morrison refereed a quarterfinal between France and Ireland and then the Final on a day of great festivities and extra time, the first Final to go into extra time. It was won by a Joel Stransky dropped goal, just as the 2003 Final went into extra time and was won by a Jonny Wilkinson dropped goal
Edward Francis Morrison was born in Bristol on 6 September 1951 and retired from active refereeing in 2001 after refereeing 30 Tests. In 1998 he became England's first full-time referee and, after he retired from active service, the head of elite referee development.
André Watson refereed the next two Finals – Australia vs France at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in 1999 and Australia vs England at Telstra Stadium in Sydney in 2003. He is the only referee to have refereed two such Finals. In fact he went to just two World Cups and refereed the Final at both of them.
Watson comes from what used to be called the Eastern Transvaal, where several famous referees cut their teeth, including Bert Woolley, Piet Robbertse and Johan Gouws. Watson started refereeing in 1983 and refereed his first Test in 1996, Australia vs Canada. He refereed the last 2003 World Cup match and the first qualifier for 2007 – Andorra vs Norway. He refereed his seventh Currie Cup Final and his fifth Super Rugby Final in 2004 before retiring.
André Jacobus Watson was born in Germiston on 24 April 1958. He became a general manager of the South African Rugby Union and in charge of South African Referees, and now is set to go farming.
Alain Rolland, who is the only World Cup referee to have played international rugby. He played three times at scrumhalf for Ireland in the first half of the 1990s and started refereeing after retiring from playing in 1997. He refereed his first Test in 2001 when Wales played Romania at Millennium Stadium. The 2011 World Cup was his third. Besides the Final in 2007 he refereed the quarterfinal between England and Australia and in 2011 the semifinal between France and Wales, a dramatic one in which he sent off the Welsh captain, Sam Warburton, in the first half for a dangerous tackle.
Alain Colm Pierre Rolland was born in Dublin on 22 August 1966 of a French father and an Irish mother. He is a mortgage broker in Dublin and a fluent French speaker.
Craig Paul Joubert was born in Durban on 8 November 1977, which makes him the youngest referee to referee a World Cup Final. His father Des was an outstanding referee and much missed by his son on this occasion, though his mother attended the Final. He said of his father: "He taught me that refereeing is mostly about people management and served as an inspirational example in this respect."
Joubert started refereeing in 1994 while at Maritzburg College. He refereed his first Test in 2003 – Namibia vs Uganda in Windhoek. The appointment to referee at the 2011 Rugby World Cup is his first such appointment. Like Kerry Fitzgerald and André Watson he will referee at his first World Cup as a referee.
Nigel Owens was born in Mynyddcerrig in Carmarthenshire on 18 June 1971. He started refereeing as a 13-year-old schoolboy and refereed his first Test in 2005 in Osaka when Japan played Ireland. The World Cup Final will be his 69th Test in his third World Cup.
