Full time refs in Magners League?

[DaveyG]

Can anyone tell me if there are any full time referees in the Magners/whatever the new sponsor is league? I know the international refs like Owens etc are full time but are their any others. The only one I can think of is McPherson and that ginger fella who's name escapes me. Something like McMenemy.

Thanks. Just trying to learn how many there are and what are the possibilities of me getting up there at that level in the future as I would love to make a career out of it.

 

[Mat 04]

Wales has Nigel Owens and James Jones as full timers.

 

[FKlopper]

Only a handful of them are full time referee's in the Magners League, I'm pretty sure that none of the Irish ones are full time.

Aside from the two Scottish officials you've mentioned, I remember that Carlo Damasco went full time after RWC2007 and I think he's still a full time official. Wales have had 2/3 full time referees in recent seasons, Nigel Owens and James Jones are the only current ones I can think of without another job.

 

[SimonSmith]

SRU have Peter Allan and Andy McPherson

 

[dave_clark]

is Andy McPherson the ginger chap? i mean the proper ginger chap.

 

[OB..]

is Andy McPherson the ginger chap? i mean the proper ginger chap.

The very ginger ref for Bedford v Bristol on Saturday was Andrew McMenemy, as DaveyG said.

 

[dave_clark]

thanks, didn't read that bit

 

[Bryan]

SRU have Peter Allan and Andy McPherson

Allan is no longer professional. He took a LoA from RBS to go pro, but returned to his work at the bank.

"Menners" and "Macker" are the pros in the SRU at the moment.

 

[SimonSmith]

The SRU website was a little....shit at providing information!

 

[Simon Thomas]

DaveyG : in RFU-Land which is by far the biggest # of clubs, players, coaches, refs etc in the world, we have only 6 or 7 full time referees out of 5,500 Society Refs and a similar number of non Society (but qualified) Club and School Refs.

Some of the other Elite Panel Refs /ARs - of which there are 60 or so refs have paid RFU jobs. Most of the full time RFU Refs Dept Managers or similar RFU roles - David Rose, Ed Turnill, Alan Biggs, Steve Harland, Clare Daniels, etc) have RFU paoid jobs but are not professional officials.

 

[Jacko]

DaveyG : in RFU-Land which is by far the biggest # of clubs, players, coaches, refs etc in the world, we have only 6 or 7 full time referees out of 5,500 Society Refs and a similar number of non Society (but qualified) Club and School Refs.

Some of the other National Panel Refs /ARs - of which there are 60 or so refs have paid RFU jobs. Most of the full time RFU Refs Dept Managers or similar RFU roles - David Rose, Ed Turnill, Alan Biggs, Steve Harland, Clare Daniels, etc) have RFU paoid jobs but are not professional officials.

Corrected slight error - the Elite panel are the full time pros.

 

[Dixie]

Just trying to learn how many there are and what are the possibilities of me getting up there at that level in the future as I would love to make a career out of it.

As Simon Thomas clearly indicates, it's not a plan that would justify flunking your exams to concentrate on the game. Don't limit your ambitions to any one country or group - opportunities may well appear elsewhere in the UK - or even the world, as Steve Walsh proved in Japan and later Australia when NZ told him he was surplus to requirements as a result of character flaws.

While realism indicates you'll have to be extraordinary to make a career of this, do bear in mind that today's extraordinary refs were once your age, wondering what on Earth to do with their lives.

 

[DaveyG]

Not planning to mess up exams to focus on it. Exams are of course priority and i plan to work hard to pass them but i hope to ref a bit of under age next season and work my way up and prove that i have the ability to ref at a good standard from a young age. i want people to think 'wow he's good for his age' and while im not the most confident of people i believe i have the ability to do it. Should i be discouraged that there are no full time referees in Ireland?

 

[OB..]

Should i be discouraged that there are no full time referees in Ireland?

No. By the time you are old enough and have gained enough experience, the situation might have changed.

 

[Robert Burns]

Eh?

Allain Rolland, the most recent world cup final referee, isn't a full time pro Ref?

 

[Simon Thomas]

Eh?

Allain Rolland, the most recent world cup final referee, isn't a full time pro Ref?

Allain is a mortgage broker in Dublin.

 

[Robert Burns]

Kick in the face of the Pro's to up their game isn't it!