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Referees around the World A-J

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:47

This gives brief biographical details of some of the great referees around the world.

Peter Allan (Scotland)

Full name: Peter Allan
Born: Edinburgh, 1975
Education: George Watson’s College
Occupation:
Playing career: school and club
Started refereeing: 2001
Society: Edinburgh Referees' Society
Highlights: IRB World Sevens circuit, IRB's Under-19 World Championship in 2005
First Test: Germany vs Serbia Montenegro in 2005

George Ayoub (Australia)

Full name: George Joseph Ayoub
Born: Sydney, 23 October 1963
Educated: St Patrick's College, Strathfield
Occupation: schoolmaster, then referees' manager for NSW
Started refereeing: 1994
Society: New South Wales Referees' Society
First Test: 2002, Japan vs Tonga

Manuel Barros (Portugal)

Full name: Manuel Maria Godinho Quintino de Barros
Born: Lisbon, 6 June 1967
Martial Status: Single
Occupation: Air Liquide in the sales department
Started refereeing: 1998/1999 season
FIRA-AER referee: 2000/2001
Referees' Society: Conselho de Arbitragem

Christophe Berdos (France)

Full name: Christophe David Berdos
Born:Tarbes  in Hautes Pyrénées on 17 April 1970
Occupation: Professional referee
Started refereeing: 1988
Society: first Armagnac Bigorre, then Ile-de-France
First Test: Highlights: Under-21 World Championship in Argentina in 2005
First Test:
Status: IRB's merit panel of referees

Klaus Blank (Germany)

Full name: Klaus Blank
Born: 1960
Family: married to Angelika. They have two sons.
Occupation: Laboratory manager at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen 
Playing career: Started playing at the age of six; played wing.
Started refereeing: 1988
First Test: 1993, Bulgaria vs Lithuania
Number of Test: 5
Other internationals: 9 Sevens, 1 Student, 5 Under-19, 3 Women.
International Tournaments:
1997    Under-19 World Cup, Chile
2000    Women's European Championships in Spain
2001    Under-19 World Cup, Chile

Gérard Borreani (France)

Full name: Gérard Borreani
Born: 10 September 1956
Occupation: physical education teacher
Started refereeing:
Society: Côte d'Azur
First Test:

Lyndon Bray (New Zealand)

Full name: Lyndon Bray
Born: Dundein, 15 November 1966
Educated: Otago University, Dunedin
Occupation: professional referee from 2003
Started refereeing: 1983 with the Otago Referees; Association
Present society: Wellington Referees' Association
First league: 1990
First representative match: 1991
First Test: 2001, Vanuatu vs Papua New Guinea

Graeme Bullen (USA)

Full name: Graeme Richard Bullen
Born: Nelspruit, South Africa, 17 November 1970
Occupation: Corporate banker – oil & gas
Family: married to Meg. They have one child, Maddie
Started refereeing: 1997
Societies: Society of Texas Referees, Western Rugby Referees Society
International panel (USA): 2003
Highlights: USA Super League referee from 2001; IRB Sevens Series in Los Angeles in 2005

David Changleng (Scotland)

Name: David Changleng
Born: 25 April 1970
Family: Married Jenny; they have 1 son Rory
Occupation: PE Teacher at Peebles High School (Scottish Borders)
Playing career: High Scoring flyhalf for Gala RFC playing alongside Gregor Townsend and Chris Paterson. Scotland Under-21 Cap
Started refereeing: 1997. 
Refereeing career: Regular Celtic League and European Cup Referee, Semi-final Under-21 World Cup 2003-04 in Oxford, Under-19 World Cup in Chile 1999, touch judge for various Six Nations and Tri-Nations matches
Often mistaken on the field for twin bother Malcolm.

Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)

Name: Malcolm Changleng
Born: 25 April 1970 (unsurprisingly)
Family: Married Lorna; they have 1 daughter Anna
Malcolm has agreed with Jenny and Anna that if he's away for more than 2 nights, they require a present.
Occupation: Professional Referee
Playing career: Fullback for Gala RFC alongside Gregor Townsend and Chris Paterson in the side which won Scottish Cup in 1999. Represented the Borders 1996-97 in the European Cup.
Refereeing: Touch judge England vs South Africa and Australia as well as Italy vs Wales in Six Nations 2005.  Refereed Under-21 World Cup in Argentina refereeing the top semi-final NZ vs South Africa.  Refereed Quarter-Final Cup and Bowl Final RWC Sevens in Hong Kong 2005.  Refereed IRB sevens final in Singapore NZ vs England

Andrew Cole (Australia)

Full name Andrew John Cole
Born: Brisbane, 1 October 1960
Educated: Marist Brothers’ College, Ashgrove, University of Queensland
Family: Married to Anne-Maree with three children - Michael, David and Megan
Occupation: professional referee, dentist
Started refereeing: 1977
First test: 1997, Samoa vs Tonga

George Clancy (Ireland)

Full name: George John Clancy
Born: 12 January 1977
Education: St Munchin's College, University of Limeric
Occupation: civil servant
Family: wife Evelyn
Playing career: school and club
Started refereeing: 1999
Society: Munster Association of Referees
Highlights: Heienken Cup in 2004, IRB's Under-19 World Championship in Durban in 2005, Under-21 World Championship in France in 2006
First Test: Ururguay vs USA in 2006

Donal Courtney (Ireland)

Full name: Donal Gerard Courtney
Born:Dublin, 22 May 1964
Educated: Christian Brothers College Monkstown Park, Trinity College Dublin, Master of Business Studies, Fellow of the Institute Of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
Occupation: chartered accountant, European CFO of the General Motors property financing bank based in Dublin's International Financial Services Centre
Family: Married to Sarah with three children
Playing career: Wing for Monkstown
Started refereeing: 1992
Referees' Society: Leinster Branch of Referees
First Test: 2002, Uruguay vs USA

Carlo Damasco (Italy)

Full name: Carlo Damasco
Born: Naples, 3 September 1972
Occupation:  Salesman
Family: Wife Mara and daughter Sara
Playing: Reached Italy Under-17
Started refereeing: 1992 when his club imported a scrumhalf from Argentina
Society: Napoli
Highlights: Under-19 Championship in Durban in 2004, Under-21 World Championship in Mendoza in 2005, final European Challenge Cup in 2005, Italy's Super 10 final in 2006
First test: Germany vs Denmark in 2003, a World Cup qualifier
First IRB Test: Georgia vs Portugal, 2006
IRB Status: Merit panel of touch judges and TMOs (2006)

Eric Darrière (France)

Full name: Eric Darrière
Born: 22 January 1966
Occupation: Professional referee
Started refereeing:
Society: Côte Basque Landes
First Test:
Status: IRB panel

Rob Davies (Wales)

Full name: Robert George Davies
Born: Swansea, 13 October 1955
Educated: Penlan School Swansea, Universities of London, Swansea and South Bank
Occupation: schoolmaster (Assistant Principal at Carmarthenshire College
Referees’ Society: Amman Valley and Llwchwr Referees’ Society

Eugene Daniels (South Africa)

Full name: Eugene Clive Daniels
Born: Stellenbosch, 16 August 1960.
Educated: Gordon Senior Secondary
Occupation: Soldier
Family: Married with three children
Started refereeing: 1989
Society: Western Province Referees’ Society
1st league: 1997
1st Provincial match: 1996
1st Test: 2001, Zimbabwe and Namibia
Status: Retired - 2005

Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)

Full name: Kelvin Mark Deaker
Born: Balclutha, Otago, 19 October 1965
Playing: Representative age-group rugby till injured
Graduated from Lincoln University
Occupation: Professional Referee, formerly an accountant
Family: wife Meghan, children Jessica and Matthew.
Started refereeing: 1991
Referees’ Society: Hawkes Bay Referees’ Association
First representative match: 1996, Buller v Horowhenua, NPC III, Westport
First test Japan v Wales June 2001

Rob Debney (England)

Full name: Robert Stephen Debney
Born: Stafford on 15 December 1973
Education: King Edward VI High School (Stafford), Loughborough University
Occupation: schoolmaster become professional referee
Family:  Married Justine, and they have two children, Holly and Alexander.
Playing career: prop at school; after injury concentrated on athletics and became a junior international
Started refereeing: at school
Society: Leicestershire Referees' Society
Highlights: IRB's Under-21 World Championship final in 2003, IRB Sevens Circuit
First Test: Canada vs USA
Status: IRB's merit panel of touch judges and TMOs
He speaks French, Italian and Russian

Pablo Deluca (Argentina)

Full name: Pablo César Deluca 
Born: Buenos Aires, 15 March 1963
Occupation: Lawyer
Family: Married to Belén with three children - Jazmin, Pablo and Belén.
Playing career: scrumhalf or wing Liceo Militar in the 1st division for 12 seasons
Started refereeing: 1980
Society: A.R.U.A.R. (Asociación de Referees de la Unión Argentina de Rugby)
First Representative match: 1993
First Test: 1996, England vs Italy
IRB Status: retired from international rugby, 2004

Henrie de Ruiter (Holland)

Full name: Henrie Leonardus Gerardus de Ruiter
Full date of birth: Oisterwijk (Holland) on 27 December 1963
Occupation: Manager at the head office Rabobank Nederland
Playing career: Played from 1977 to 1993 - a hooker for Oisterwijk Oysters RFC
Started refereeing: 1993
Referees' Society: Nederlandse Sociëteit van Rugby Scheidsrechter
Why you started refereeing: Lack of time to train on fixed hours
First Test: 1998, Switzerland vs the Czech Republic
Other highlights: Regional Cup: Flandres vs Pays de Loire, Wallonie vs Tchequia, several Heineken Amsterdam 7’s (Holland), several Heidelberg 7’s (Germany. Qualifiers at Under-20 and Under-19 level in the Czech Republic, Euro Cup matches in France and Germany and the Under-189 World Cup in Italy in 2002.

Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Full name: Giulio De Santis
Born: Rome, 22 July 1967
Occupation: policeman (anti-organised crime)
Playing career: For Lazio till Under-19
Started refereeing: 1986
First Test: 1999, Belgium vs Poland

Rob Dickson (Scotland)

Full name: James Robert Dickson
Born: Edinburgh, 2 February 1968
Educated: Merchiston Castle School
Club: Madras College FP (Fife)
Started refereeing:1991
Society: Edinburgh Referees’ Society
First Test: 1998, Italy vs Wales
In Rob's post-Sandhurst and army days he was taken under the wings of two other respected Scottish referees, Jim Fleming and John Bacigalupo.

Stuart Dickinson (Australia)

Full name: Stuart James Dickinson
Born: Sydney, 19 July 1968
School: Epping Boys’ High
Occupation: Professional referee, formerly a transport manager with FOX and before that a policeman
Family: Married to Fiona, father of Michael
Society: New South Wales Rugby Referees’ Association
Started: 1988
First test: 1997

Gareth Doyle (Ireland)

Full name: Gareth Doyle
Born: Limavady, Northern Ireland on 27 April 1960
Family:  Married to Judith. They have four children - Lesley, Richard, William, Caroline.
Occupation:  Contracts Manager, with civil engineering contractor Playing career:  Captained Welsh Universities 1982, Played for Abertillery during my time at University College Cardiff, played senior rugby for Ballymena (the club of WJ McBride, Syd Millar, Trevor Ringland, Gary Longwell, etc)
Started refereeing:  1992
Referees' Society: Ulster Society
Why you started refereeing: Getting too old to play!  (Also suffered from the same knee injury as Paul Gascoigne but did not receive the same press coverage!)
First Test: Switzerland vs Ukraine in 2001 in a World Cup Qualifier.
Highlights: "Touch judging for Dave McHugh who must be the best referee in the world at present."

Hervé Dubes (France)

Full name: Hervé Dubes
Born: 25 August 1966
Occupation: Engineer
Started refereeing:
Society: Côte d'Argent
First Test:

Joël Dumé (France)

Full name: Joël Dumé
Born: Preignac, Gironde, 20 December 1959
Occupation:  Directeur des Services, Comîté de Rugby de Côte d’Argent (CEO of the rugby province of Côte d’Argent, where the main city is Bordeaux)
Family: Married; two sons
Society: Comîté de Côte d’Argent
Started: 1980
First test: 1993, Wales vs England in Cardiff
IRB status: Retired

Wayne Erickson (Australia)

Full name: Wayne John Erickson
Birth: Sydney, 8 March 1959
Occupation:  Professional referee, before that operations manager with the Australian Rugby Union, before that a schoolmaster
Playing career: Nearly 200 1st XV matches for UNSW and Eastern Suburbs as a tight-head prop; Sydney XV in 1983.
Started Refereeing: 1986
First Test: 1994
Number of Tests: 25
IRB Status: retired from international rugby

Duncan Forsyth (Holland)

Full name: Duncan Forsyth
Born: Rugby (England), 12 October 1951
Educated: Newcastle University
Family: Married to Sylvia with a daughter
Playing career: Rugby league for Whitehaven and Rugby Union for Egremont and Cumbria
Started refereeing: 1992
Society: Dutch Society of Rugby Referees (NSRS)
First Test: 2002, Luxembourg vs Bosnia

Bernd Gabbei (Germany)

Full name: Bernd Gabbei
Born: Berlin, 1961
Educated: Freie University in Berlin, Waterloo in Canada
Occupation: Head of the statistics department in the Ministry of education in Berlin
Marital Status: Married to Eva. They have two daughters
He played for Germany at Under-19 and Sevens
Started refereeing: 1982
First Test: 1993, Israel vs Holland in a World Cup qualifier.
Status: Retired from international refereeing

Jean-Christophe Gastou (France)

Full name: Jean-Christophe Gastou
Born: 30 March 1962
Occupation: Tax official
Started refereeing:
Society: Languedoc
First Test:

Serge Goffinet (Belgium)

Full name: Serge Goffinet
Born: Nieuwpoort, 3 May 1966
Occupation: Customer Services for TESA
Playing career: Flank for ASUB Waterloo
Started refereeing: 1995
Referees' Society: Federation Belge De Rugby
Why you started refereeing:I like rugby. I am also a trainer
First Test (year and match): Switzerland vs Bosnia in 2000
Other highlights: final of Eurocup in 2000 and 2001,
Baden Wurtenberg vs Bourgogne for the Euro Region Cup

Joacim Gustafsson (Sweden)

Full name: Joacim Gustafsson
Born: Växjö, 1964
Marital Status: Married to Christina with two children
Occupation: PhD Student
Playing career: 14 years in Sweden first and second league
Started refereeing: 1995
Referees' society: Swedish Rugby Referee's Society
Number of referees in society: 20

Hakim Hadj-Bachir (France)

Full name: Hakim Hadj-Bachir
Born: 17 June 1967
Occupation: Potsal employee
Started refereeing:
Society: Auvergne
First Test:

Tim Hayes (Wales)

Full name : Timothy Lewis Hayes
Born: 21 August, 1973
Educated: Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig and Cardiff University
Occupation: School teacher at Ysgol Bro Myrddin
Started refereeing: (off and on - 1991; seriously - 1996!)
Referees Society: Llanelli & District.
First Test: Romania vs Georgia (2006)

Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Full name: William Taljaard Stopforth Henning
Birth: Nigel, 6 June 1961
Education: John Vorster High School, Police College, Pretoria Technikon
Occupation: Policeman, now professional referee
Playing career: Northern Transvaal Under 20
Referees’ Society: Blue Bulls
Date of joining: 1987
Provincial Honours: 1994
First Test: 1995, Scotland vs Western Samoa
Status: Retired from international refereeing

Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)

Full name: Taizo Hirabayashi
Born: Kyusyu on 24 April 1975
Education: Miyazaki Omiya High School, Miyazaki Sangyo Keiei University
Occupation: teacher become professional referee
Family: wife Yoko and son Sonoa
Playing career: school, university, club
Started refereeing: 1994
Society: Japan East Rugby Union
Highlights: World Under-19 Championship in Durban in 2005, World Under-21 Championship in France in 2006
First Test: Sri Lanka vs China in 2006

Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

Full name: Paul Gerard Honiss
Born: Hamilton, New Zealand 18 June 1963.
Marital Status: Married to Rebecca. They have three children - Sarah, Jacob and Nicholas.
Started refereeing: 1983
First Test: 1997, Tahiti vs Cook Islands
Arrived late for the 1999 Rugby World Cup after forgetting his passport at home!
Occupation: Professional referee since 1997
Status: Retired from international refereeing

Carl Joergensen (Denmark)

Full name: Carl Joergensen
Born: Chester, England, 25 November 1959
Family: Married to Gitte with three daughters, Maria, Maja and Megan
Occupation: Technician
Playing career: 1970-1987
Started refereeing: 1987
Society: Danish Referee Society.
Number of referees in society: 35

Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Full name: Marius Jonker
Born: Kimberley on 19 June 1969
Occupation: Loss Control Manager for Bell Equipment in Richards Bay.
Family: Married to Belinda with a son Rynhardt of 6 and daughter Brenda of 13 months.
Playing career: Played first division rugby for Maritzburg Police (Pietermaritzburg),North Coast Rhinos (Empangeni) and Richards Bay Rugby Clubs as a flyhalf.
Started refereeing: 2000
Referees' Society: Zululand Referees' Society, a sub-society of KwaZulu Natal Referees' Society.
Highlights: IRB's Under-19 World Cup in 2004, IRB's Under-21 World Cup in 2005, Super 14, Currie Cup, Ireland vs Australia, the last Test at the old Lansdowne Road
First Test: Fiji vs Italy in 2006
Status: IRB's merit panel of referees

Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Full name: Craig Paul Joubert
Born: Durban, 8 November 1977
Educated: Maritzburg College, University of Natal - B.Com; B.Com Honours (Business Finance)
Occupation: Banker become a professional referee
Marital status: Married to Charmaine
Date of starting: 1994. He played rugby as a flyhalf or fullback at Junior School and represented Natal at the Under-13 Craven Week. He started refereeing at Maritzburg College, as did Test referee Ian Rogers before him.
His late father, Des Joubert, was a provincial referee. "He taught me that refereeing is mostly about people management and served as an inspirational example in this respect."
Society: Natal Referees' Society
First Test: 2003: Namibia vs Uganda in Windhoek
Sevens: "Sevens have afforded me many great opportunities in rugby."
He has been on the IRB's Sevens circuit since 2001. He refereed finals in Brisbane (2002), George (2002, 2003 & 2005), Wellington (2004 & 2005), Los Angeles (2004 & 2005), Hong Kong (2004), Bordeaux (2004). In 2005 he refereed the final of the Sevens World Cup in Hong Kong.
First Super 12 match: 2005 - Waratahs vs Chiefs
Motto: Winners have a program. Losers have an excuse.

Joël Jutge (France)

Name: Joël Jutge
Born: Lavaur, 5 April 1966
Playing career: Scrumhalf for Colomiers, then Cahors
Society: Comité Midi Pyrenees
Occupation: Technician E.D.F.
First Test: 2000, Italy vs Romania