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The International Rugby Board (IRB) International Referees Panel is a group of elite rugby union referees appointed by the IRB to officiate in international matches, usually those involving the top tier rugby nations from around the world.
The panel was established to ensure that matches between the best international teams are handled by the best referees. Neutral referees have been the current trend from the IRB's busy appointments schedule. For the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa they were tempted to try the system seeing as the majority of the referees come from Ireland, England, Wales and South Africa.
The referees on this panel have developed through the game of 7's and Super 14, French, English, Irish and Welsh national leagues respectively.
These referees are supposedly the best in the world. They are employed by their home unions and the IRB. They are expected to ensure that their fitness is kept up to the minimum IRB fitness standards.
The IRB referees manager is currently Paddy O'Brien. O'Brien is a former referee who refereed semi-finals at the 2003 Rugby World Cup and also was the touch judge in the final.
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The current members of the elite panel[1] are referees highly regarded by the IRB and their referee selectors. Four of the referees come from South Africa, four from Ireland, three from England, two from Australia, two from France, and New Zealand and Wales having one respectively.[2]
The major surprise is Scotland being an original founding union and it does not have a referee on the panel. However on the development panel it does have Peter Allan.[2]
The current panel are in alphabetical order, not ranking wise.[2]
The most experienced referees are Stuart Dickinson and Jonathan Kaplan both having refereed at three (Dickinson) and two (Kaplan) [3] World Cups respectively.
Alain Rolland refereed the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final which was held in France.[4]
The referee selectors and coaches are each appointed by the IRB.
Steve Hilditch of Ireland is the head of the selectors.
- Steve Hilditch
- Tappe Henning
- Michael Lamoullie
- Bob Francis
A lot of the referee assessors are former IRB referees. These assessors simply judge the referees performance, they do not select them. All reports are forwarded to the IRB selectors.
- Scott Young
- Andrew Cole
- Patrick Robin
- Paul Bridgman
- Brian Stirling
- Tony Spreadbury
- Ed Morrisson
During 2009 and other seasons the referees and the IRB alike have been criticized heavily for their under performing of referees in test matches and even their behaviour off the field.
Steve Walsh had his contract torn up the NZRU for disciplinary reasons. He was furthermore taken off the IRB referees panel. Later on in the year Walsh announced he was to continue refereeing in Australia, where it is expected that he will take place in the 2010 Super 14 as a referee as an Australian. Walsh refereed the Tooheys New NSW First Grade Semi Final, and was narrowly beaten to the final by IRB member Stuart Dickinson, where Walsh was the reserve referee.
Bryce Lawrence was selected to referee in the first British and Irish Lions test match against South Africa. He later admitted his flaws to Lions prop Phil Vickery where he stated he got the scrum calls wrong and was sorry for the impact it caused on the match.
In the 2nd British and Irish Lions test match he was acting as an assistant referee. 30 seconds into the match Schalk Burger eye gouged Lions winger Luke Fitzgerald. Lawrence saw the incident and duly recommended a yellow card to referee Christophe Berdos. Burger received an 8 week ban for the incident. Players alike came out and said that if Lawrence cannot establish a correct sanction for an eye gouge then he is not fit to officiate. Lawrence continues to referee after a very average year. These two incidents have had players question his mental ability as a referee.
Bryce Lawrence refereed the England v France 2010 6 Nations match, where critics claimed he wasn't up to standard. Questions have been raised over why Lawrence continues to referee top games.
On November 14, Stuart Dickinson refereed the Italy Verse New Zealand match at the San Siro Stadium. The game had continuous scrum resets which ended in Dickinson yellow carding the All Blacks Neemia Tialata. The Italian management were saying what a poor job he did not giving the Italian team a penalty try. While the All Blacks coaching staff despite the win, heavily criticized saying that Italy were the fault and were using illegal tactics. Paddy O'Brien the IRB referees manager set the precedent and flew to New Zealand team hotel which had never been done before and apologised to NZ management saying Dickinson got it completely wrong.[5]
This led to outrage by the Australian Rugby Union, who issued a formal complaint to the IRB against Paddy O'Brien.[6] O'Brien ended up apologising to Stuart Dickinson and the Australian Rugby Union.[7]
“I have unreservedly apologised to Stuart Dickinson for the action of publicly discussing elements of his performance review and would like to extend that apology to the Australian Rugby Union," said O'Brien.
“A clear and confidential best practice protocol exists for match official appraisal and feedback involving all stakeholders and I regret breaching this protocol. “The IRB has in place a dedicated High Performance structure for the development of international referees and works hard with its Member Unions to identify up and coming talent and promote consistency at all levels of the Game. “Team management are also offered the opportunity to meet with the referee prior to a match or arrange a meeting with a performance reviewer or myself – this is normal practice. “Again I would like to apologise to Stuart and the ARU for the public nature of the comments that I made."
Dickinson in the 2010 6 Nations tournament has not received an appointment for the first time since 2000. The ARU have sought a meeting with Paddy O'Brien to discuss these latest turn of events after O'Brien chose not to publicly appraise referees after they have a bad game. It is understood the meeting has been kept under closed doors.
The integration of more stringent game management procedures and referee coaching practices are now considered of greater importance within international rugby unions.
The 2007 referees for the Rugby World Cup were based on merit. The IRB consisting of the selectors and Paddy O'Brien selected 12 referees to referee at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. They also picked a panel of assistant referees and TMO's. Many of the referees who have refereed at this world cup have now retired.
Mark Lawrence was a notable exception. It was judged that Marius Jonker was the better referee at the time. Mark Lawrence has in recent times been selected to referee more high profile international games and is rated by many as one of the leading international referees.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup Referees
The 2011 referees for the Rugby World Cup were also based on merit, judged on the previous 4 years. The IRB consisting of the selectors and Paddy O'Brien selected 10 referees to referee at the 2011 Rugby World Cup: fewer than ever. This was to give match officials more game time during the tournament, and help the selectors to pick the best officials for the knockout stage.
Mark Lawrence and Alan Lewis were both overlooked for this tournament, Lawrence unlucky to be overlooked for successive tournaments.[13]
The 2011 Rugby World Cup Referees
The 2011 Rugby World Cup Assistant Referees
The 2011 Rugby World Cup TMO Panel
Emirates Airlines is the sponsor of the IRB referees, they also sponsor the ICC Elite Umpires Panel. The IRB has 3 refereeing strips; The orange strip, the blue strip, and the white strip. It is all supplied by Canterbury. Each different colour of strip is used in all different games to avoid colour clashes and confusion within the players. Some referees have football boot brands sponsoring them.