Saracens fly-half Glen Jackson is to join New Zealand's professional referee ranks.
The New Zealander is contracted for another year at the English Premiership club but has been granted special leave to attend a New Zealand Referees training camp in Auckland this week.
He will undergo the NZRU Referee Academy Training programme with a view to officiating in the 2010 Heartland Championship - the second tier provincial competition.
The 33-year-old started refereeing age-grade rugby in Tauranga while playing for the Chiefs Super 14 franchise and has continued to develop his skills since moving to Britain in 2004.
He has completed his English RFU referee exams and is a member of the Hertfordshire Referees Society.
NZRU high performance referee manager Lyndon Bray said Jackson's signing as a full-time professional referee would add depth and provide a new dimension to New Zealand's professional pool of rugby referees.
"We're thrilled that Glen Jackson has chosen refereeing as the next step in his professional rugby career," he said.
"It's rare that professional players at Glen's level make the move into refereeing but his skills as a player can only enhance his ability as a referee.
"It's great that England has embraced and supported Glen's desire to develop his skills in refereeing, and I am confident that support will continue over the next year."
Jackson, who has played for Bay of Plenty, the Chiefs, New Zealand Maori and the New Zealand Barbarians, is looking forward to the new challenge.
"I've enjoyed refereeing age grade rugby back home in Tauranga and in London," said Saracens all-time Premiership top-scorer.
"This is a great opportunity to continue living rugby at the top level.
"I am keen to create the right environment for working towards earning an opportunity to referee at Test level. I'll bring something different to the game, and I think players will recognise this."
Friday, 10 July 2009
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Back Down Under
A few months ago it was widely reported in the media that New Zealand referee/bad boy Steve Walsh and the NZRU had parted company.
Walsh had been in and out of the media spotlight for a number of reasons over the year and the final straw appeared to be his alleged turning up at an SANZAR conference while under the influence of alcohol late last year.
The NZRU refused to give Walsh yet "another" final chance to sort himself out and so they parted company. He admitted he'd not dealt with personal issues properly and was taking time out to sort things.
But the good news, as far as I'm concerned, is that Walsh appears not to have been a loss to the game as it appears he's enjoying life in Sydney, Australia, where he's picked up the whistle and is back in action.
That is unless there is another Steve Walsh refereeing the TooheysNewCup Shute Shield match between Eastern Suburbs vs Northern Suburbs at the Woollahra Oval this weekend.
I indeed hope it is Steve Walsh, formerly of NZ, and not a namesake. For all is problems off the pitch, he was a world class referee and would have been a big loss to the game.
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Jutge hangs up his whistle
France's top referee Joël Jutge has given up the battle against injury and has decided to quit active refereeing and go into administration.
Jutge has been unable to referee since November 2007 when he was having cartilage trouble and underwent a knee operation. After the operation he spent eight months recovering but all was s till not right and he underwent another operation on the same knee. This meant 10 months of recuperation.
He had hoped to be ready but was forced to withdraw from a club match in France and then from, European Challenge match and then from two Six Nations appointments. He was a strong candidate to referee on the Lions' tour to South Africa.
Jutge was honoured by the French government. Roselyne Bachelot, the Minister of Health, Youth Affairs, Sport and Associations, presented him with the medal of a Chevalier of the Order of Merit (Médaille de Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite).
Jutge was born in Lavaur on 5 April 1966. He took up refereeing after a top career as a scrumhalf for Colomiers and then Cahors.
He is not lost to rugby as he will join Joël Dumé and will look after the professional sector of French refereeing.
Jutge has been unable to referee since November 2007 when he was having cartilage trouble and underwent a knee operation. After the operation he spent eight months recovering but all was s till not right and he underwent another operation on the same knee. This meant 10 months of recuperation.
He had hoped to be ready but was forced to withdraw from a club match in France and then from, European Challenge match and then from two Six Nations appointments. He was a strong candidate to referee on the Lions' tour to South Africa.
Jutge was honoured by the French government. Roselyne Bachelot, the Minister of Health, Youth Affairs, Sport and Associations, presented him with the medal of a Chevalier of the Order of Merit (Médaille de Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite).
Jutge was born in Lavaur on 5 April 1966. He took up refereeing after a top career as a scrumhalf for Colomiers and then Cahors.
He is not lost to rugby as he will join Joël Dumé and will look after the professional sector of French refereeing.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Brian Moore
Love him, or hate him?
Some days it's the former, some the latter, but while I can't bare listening to him as a commentator during the BBC's rugby coverage, there's no questioning his ability as a writer.
On the present turmoil at Bath Rugby, his article (see link below) is worth a look.
I have the dubious pleasure of working in the sporting media in Bath, so have watched this whole sorry story unfold for a long time.
And I have to admit I am not surprised. A well-respected source informed me last year (well before the Matt Stevens saga) that drugs were involved at Bath.
Like many, though, I am deeply saddened at the current situation that envelopes the club I have supported for many years.
Quite how head coach Steve Meehan is supposed to rebuild his squad when he returns from Australia's east coast is beyond me - good luck to him. The Australians are facing a coaching crisis as it is withing their club structure - would anyone blame him for returning back Down Under?
I for one hope he doesn't. There is plenty enough talent at Bath and one hopes the actions of a few bad apples doesn't spoil the efforts of the majority at the club.
Kick the offenders out and rebuild, quickly. Easier said than done I know, but here's hoping the Bath management pull it off.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Oz refs have it tough
Not even swine flu can save Australian NRL referee Matt Cecchin.
Four match officials have been placed in a five-day quarantine after they were exposed to the H1N1 virus on a flight to Canberra last weekend.
They have been replaced for round 12 games this weekend – but not by Cecchin, who awarded the controversial penalty which cost Manly victory on the Gold Coast last Sunday and was not appointed to a first grade game this weekend.
Jared Maxwell also can't take a trip. He is among the four just days after being crash-tackled by a pitch invader at Campbelltown.
Maxwell joins referee Bernard Sutton and touch judges Jeff Younis and Ricky McFarlane in being advised by the ACT and NSW health departments that a fellow passenger on the flight had tested positive to the virus.
The four, who officiated at the Canberra versus Warriors match on Sunday, were told to remain in quarantine until at least seven days after the exposure.
Four match officials have been placed in a five-day quarantine after they were exposed to the H1N1 virus on a flight to Canberra last weekend.
They have been replaced for round 12 games this weekend – but not by Cecchin, who awarded the controversial penalty which cost Manly victory on the Gold Coast last Sunday and was not appointed to a first grade game this weekend.
Jared Maxwell also can't take a trip. He is among the four just days after being crash-tackled by a pitch invader at Campbelltown.
Maxwell joins referee Bernard Sutton and touch judges Jeff Younis and Ricky McFarlane in being advised by the ACT and NSW health departments that a fellow passenger on the flight had tested positive to the virus.
The four, who officiated at the Canberra versus Warriors match on Sunday, were told to remain in quarantine until at least seven days after the exposure.
Monday, 25 May 2009
A quieter month - that was May then
When the season is in full swing, many of us dream of a break - "ah, the summer", but it always appears a long, long way off.
And before you know it - May arrives, the end of the season looms and, after about three weeks, I'm climbing the walls and looking forwards to 7s, August and pre-season.
Not that May has been without its rugby ups and downs. At the end of April I was fortunate enough to attended the RFU's Panel Evaluation Conference - a selection weekend for the National Panel.
Although I was pleased with how the weekend went (and I figured I did myself justice in the various "trials" - including one by knife and fork at a formal dinner) the news at the beginning of May was disappointing. I didn't make the cut, and the reason was my pace, or, more importantly, perceived lack of it.
It was good to hear some positive feedback about other areas of my game (and yes, there are some!) but the powers that be felt I lacked the pace to progress beyond National Three (as it stands).
But a good thing to hear was the RFU's intended pathway for continued progression towards next year's Women's World Cup, in England. A meeting in the summer with the RFU will enlighten me more, so it wasn't all doom and gloom!
As for the rest of May - I've taken it fairly leisurely I have to admit (despite a 7s tourno), although it has been great to see some of the referees I met at the 7s World Cup in Dubai doing really well. Two have made their debuts in the middle of Super 14 matches, and others have popped up in the Magners League and at further iRB 7s Series events.
So, while my hamstrings have been glad of the break, a 5k race breathed some life back into the lungs this weekend, although little disappointed I didn't set a new personal best. Thinking about it, a club annual dinner the night before did not help matters.
Here's to more 7s in June and July and a two-week trip to Canada in August. In the meantime, there's the small matter of shifting a few pounds and beating my 5k pb!
And before you know it - May arrives, the end of the season looms and, after about three weeks, I'm climbing the walls and looking forwards to 7s, August and pre-season.
Not that May has been without its rugby ups and downs. At the end of April I was fortunate enough to attended the RFU's Panel Evaluation Conference - a selection weekend for the National Panel.
Although I was pleased with how the weekend went (and I figured I did myself justice in the various "trials" - including one by knife and fork at a formal dinner) the news at the beginning of May was disappointing. I didn't make the cut, and the reason was my pace, or, more importantly, perceived lack of it.
It was good to hear some positive feedback about other areas of my game (and yes, there are some!) but the powers that be felt I lacked the pace to progress beyond National Three (as it stands).
But a good thing to hear was the RFU's intended pathway for continued progression towards next year's Women's World Cup, in England. A meeting in the summer with the RFU will enlighten me more, so it wasn't all doom and gloom!
As for the rest of May - I've taken it fairly leisurely I have to admit (despite a 7s tourno), although it has been great to see some of the referees I met at the 7s World Cup in Dubai doing really well. Two have made their debuts in the middle of Super 14 matches, and others have popped up in the Magners League and at further iRB 7s Series events.
So, while my hamstrings have been glad of the break, a 5k race breathed some life back into the lungs this weekend, although little disappointed I didn't set a new personal best. Thinking about it, a club annual dinner the night before did not help matters.
Here's to more 7s in June and July and a two-week trip to Canada in August. In the meantime, there's the small matter of shifting a few pounds and beating my 5k pb!
Friday, 1 May 2009
And that was April..
A sign of getting older is how quick time passes, so should I be worried about just how quick April flew by?
It seems mad that the end of the season is here already, but as the end of the 15-a-side game looms, the 7-a-side circuit takes off - no rest for the wicked.
April has been another good month on the pitch - a cracking SW1 game between two of the leagues top sides kicked the month off, with a Cornish Cup final thrown in for the mix.
The games could not have been different, and played only three days apart. One had glorious weather and saw two teams fling the ball all over the field and run from wherever. The second was played in a mudbath with what seemed like a monsoon raging the Cornish coastline!
And it was also a month for another first - two games in one day, not to be recommended as my hamstrings will testify. A leisurely trip to Henley for the National Colts semi-finals (with me all set for a 3pm KO) turned into a fast-lane dash up the M4 when a call came in asking me to get there for the 12pm KO as the referee failed to turn up.
The lungs held out, but the hamstrings just about recovered in time for another pasting on the Rec the day after when the rocket boots came out for the Bath United v University of Bath match - a warm-up for the Real Varsity Match between the University of Bath and Loughborough Uni this week.
I was lucky enough to be in the middle for the women's Real Varsity Match and while the pace of the game allowed the hamstrings to recover, the endeavour shown by the players was just as great, if not greater, than their male colleagues.
And so April has drawn to a close and with it the 15-a-side season. Bring on the 7s!
It seems mad that the end of the season is here already, but as the end of the 15-a-side game looms, the 7-a-side circuit takes off - no rest for the wicked.
April has been another good month on the pitch - a cracking SW1 game between two of the leagues top sides kicked the month off, with a Cornish Cup final thrown in for the mix.
The games could not have been different, and played only three days apart. One had glorious weather and saw two teams fling the ball all over the field and run from wherever. The second was played in a mudbath with what seemed like a monsoon raging the Cornish coastline!
And it was also a month for another first - two games in one day, not to be recommended as my hamstrings will testify. A leisurely trip to Henley for the National Colts semi-finals (with me all set for a 3pm KO) turned into a fast-lane dash up the M4 when a call came in asking me to get there for the 12pm KO as the referee failed to turn up.
The lungs held out, but the hamstrings just about recovered in time for another pasting on the Rec the day after when the rocket boots came out for the Bath United v University of Bath match - a warm-up for the Real Varsity Match between the University of Bath and Loughborough Uni this week.
I was lucky enough to be in the middle for the women's Real Varsity Match and while the pace of the game allowed the hamstrings to recover, the endeavour shown by the players was just as great, if not greater, than their male colleagues.
And so April has drawn to a close and with it the 15-a-side season. Bring on the 7s!
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