Although we have known for a while now who the 20 rugby union teams will be competing for the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2019 in Japan, World Rugby has now confirmed the 23 referees for the rugby union tournament.
Collectively called Team 21, the team of officials is made up of 12 referees, 7 assistant referees and 4 Television Match Officials (TMOs) who have 804 rugby union tests between them.
The Rugby World Cup kicks off on September 20th with Japan playing Russia and the final will be played on Saturday 2nd November in Tokyo. New Zealand is aiming to win its third Rugby World Cup in a row after being victorious at home in 2011 and in England in 2015. Japan are the only Asian rugby union team competing at the Rugby World Cup 2019.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said:
“Just like for the players and coaches, Rugby World Cup represents the pinnacle of a match official’s career and I would like to congratulate the team of 12 referees, seven assistant referees and four TMOs who have achieved selection today through their hard work, commitment and dedication to excellence. Put simply, without the match officials there would be no rugby and I am proud of the leading position that our sport enjoys in terms of the mutual respect and values displayed between match officials, players and all those involved in the game.”
In total, the group of rugby officials will preside over 48 games at RWC 2019.
Referees Rugby World 2019 Japan
- Wayne Barnes (England)
- Luke Pearce (England)
- Jérôme Garcès(France)
- Romain Poite (France)
- Pascal Gaüzère (France)
- Mathieu Raynal (France)
- Nigel Owens (Wales)
- Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
- Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
- Paul Williams (New Zealand)
- Nic Berry (Australia)
- Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees Rugby World 2019 Japan
- Matthew Carley (England, reserve referee)
- Karl Dickson (England)
- Andrew Brace (Ireland)
- Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
- Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
- Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
- Alex Ruiz (France)
Which Asian referees are at the Rugby World Cup 2019?
Japan’s Shuhei Kubo is named as an assistant referee for Rugby World Cup 2019 and is the only Asian representative.
TMOs Rugby World 2019 Japan
- Graham Hughes (England)
- Rowan Kitt (England)
- Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
- Marius Jonker (South Africa)
You can also read more about the legacy of the World Cup in our interviews with Chris Mastaglio (ChildFund Pass It Back) and the Asian Scrum Project.
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