IRB announce WRWC match officials
The IRB have announced the names of the referees and assistant referees who will take charge of games at this year's World Cup in France.
Published by John Birch, April 4th, 2014
2 minute read
The names listed will be familar to most followers of the women's game, especially the Six Nations as many of the officials listed took charge of games during the recent tournament.
What is striking about the list if that none of the referees will come from the host nation, France, The referee list includes two from New Zealand, while USA, England, South Africa, Ireland, Australia and Canada will provide one each:
The full list of referees is: Jess Beard (New Zealand), Leah Berard (USA), Claire Hodnett (England), Nicky Inwood (New Zealand), Marlize Jordaan (South Africa), Helen O'Reilly (Ireland), Amy Perrett (Australia), Sherry Trumbull (Canada).
However, one of the six assistant referees will be French, with other assistants coming from Italy, France, Scotland and Spain. Beatrice Benvenuti (Italy), Sara Cox (England), Clare Daniels (England), Marie Lematte (France), Alhambra Nievas (Spain), Alex Pratt (Scotland).
Three of the match officials, namely Inwood, Trumbell and Daniels, were selected for WRWC 2010, which took place in England. Indeed, Inwood and Daniels also refereed at the 2006 edition in Canada.
The quality of officials selected for women's tests has been a subject of some discussion since the last World Cup, and today's announcement follows a year of intense referee preparation for the WRWC 2014 by the IRB, including a three-day camp for the elite officials in Marcoussis prior to the Six Nations, a tournament followed up by another training camp in Berlin earlier this month.