Nic Berry is the sole referee on World Rugby duty this weekend as there’s a gap between last week’s Six Nationals finale and next week’s Autumn Nations Cup starting. The Australian, Berry takes charge of the Australia v New Zealand match in the Tri Nations.
We have a full list of Top 14 matches with Sebastien Minery (top right) overseeing the Racing 92 match against Pau. We have a nearly full Pro14 list (the Benneton/Munster game is off), as well as the Super Rugby Unlocked, in South Africa. JD Jadezweni has his first run out of the season as the Sharks host the Cheetahs. I think we see Aimee Barrett-Theron sitting as a TMO for the first time at Super Rugby level which is great to see. Hopefully, she is being warmed up to follow Amy Perret’s lead later in the tournament.
Elsewhere we have the Mitre 10 Cup from New Zealand and England’s Premier 15 appointments too.
Hopefully, you can catch some of these matches wherever in the world you happen to be
Keith
Tri Nations
Australia v New Zealand (in Brisbane)
Referee: Nic Berry
ARs: Ben O’Keeffe & Angus Gardner
TMO: Paul Williams
Super Rugby Unlocked – Round 5
Sharks v Cheetahs
Referee: Cwengile Jadezweni
ARs: Marius van der Westhuizen & Paul Mente
TMO: Marius Jonker
Griquas v Stormers
Referee Jaco Peyper
ARs: AJ Jacobs & Griffin Colby
TMO: Aimee Barrett-Theron
Lions v Bulls
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
ARs Cwengile Jadezweni & Egon Seconds
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen
France – Top 14 – round 8
Toulon v Brive
Referee: Pascal Gauzere
ARs: Adrien Descottes & Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Mourad Zitouni
Toulouse v Castres Olympique
Referee: Thomas Charabas
Juge de touche 1: P.Nuchy & D.Dayre
TMO: E.Gauzins
Bordeaux-Bègles v Bayonne
Referee: Pierre Brousset
ARs: V.Blasco Baque & J.Labarbe
TMO: M.Chalon
Montpellier v Stade Français Paris
Referee: Mathieu Raynal
ARs: L.Cardona & S.Jaymes
TMO: L.Sclafer
Racing 92 v Pau
Referee: Sebastien Minery
ARs: T.Trainini & C.Bultet
TMO: C.Marchat
Agen v Lou
Referee: Romain Poite
ARs: V.Praderie & A.Blondel
TMO: E.Gonthier
La Rochelle v ASM Clermont
Referee: Alex Ruiz
ARs: L.Ramos & C.Bats
TMO: L.Cayre
Guinness Pro 14 – Round 5
Benetton v Munster – postponed
Dragons v Connacht
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 46th Championship Appearance)
ARs: Ben Whitehouse & Aled Evans (both WRU)
TMO: Ian Davies (WRU)
Ospreys v Leinster
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU, 10th Championship Appearance)
ARs: Adam Jones & Ben Whitehouse (both WRU)
TMO: Tim Hayes (WRU)
Scarlets v Zebre
Referee: Sean Gallagher (IRFU, 20th Championship Appearance)
ARs: Craig Evans & Gwyn Morris (both WRU)
TMO: Wayne Davies (WRU)
Edinburgh v Cardiff Blues
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 58th Championship Appearance)
ARs: Hollie Davidson & Ian Kenny (both SRU)
TMO: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
Ulster v Glasgow Warriors
Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU, 186th Championship Appearance)
ARs: Frank Murphy & Chris Busby (both IRFU)
TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)
Allianz Premier 15s – Round 4
Loughborough Lightning v Harlequins Women
Referee: Nick Wood
ARs: Peter Caunt & Jonathan Petzing
Wasps FC Ladies v DMP Durham Sharks
Referee: Sam Phillips
ARs: Michael Woods & Melanie Liley
Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC v Saracens Women
Referee: Joe James
ARs: Daniel Rowlands & Ryan Collier
Exeter Chiefs Women v Worcester Warriors Women
Referee: Adam Wookey
ARs: Lloyd Davies & Max Weston
Sale Sharks Women v Bristol Bears Women
Referee: James O’Brien
ARs: Kieron Henry & Nia Parsonage
Mitre 10 Cup – Round 9
Southland v Otago
Referee: Brendon Pickerill
ARs: James McMath & Taylor Swan
Auckland v Northland
Referee: Nick Briant
ARs: TBC
North Harbour v Counties Manukau
Referee: Cam Stone
ARs: Kyle Lagerwall & Dean Harris
Tasman v Canterbury
Referee: Mike Fraser
ARs: Steff James & Kane Hames
Hawke’s Bay v Wellington (Ranfurly Shield)
Referee: Richard Kelly
ARs: Stu Catley & Sheldon Eden-Whaitiri
Waikato v Bay of Plenty
Referee: Dan Waenga
ARs: Grant Stuart & Ben Woolerton
Manawatu v Taranaki
Referee: Angus Mabey
ARs: TBC
When will World Rugby do something about the enormous amount of time the ball is ”dead” but the clock still running in our game.
It is becoming more and more farcical that so many scrums are reset and that so many penalty kicks, that go to touch, gobble up several minutes at a time !!
The regular routine is… line up the kick..kick the ballot touch.. the team in possession then walk almost to the LO before stopping and having a chat about the ”call”,… continue to LO…. a prop then goes to hooker to confirm the call?????..ball goes in….often a scrum then follows..a couple of resets… followed by a penalty and the whole farce rewinds to the start. Where there have been two consecutive penalties I have timed it to be over 7 mins. until someone has the ball back in their hands and in play. !!!!!!
Even ex hooker and commentator Brian Moore was bemoans all this time lost during his commentary of the French match and that unlike the other two dismal affairs was a great game with lots of running rugby. I am a committee member of the England Internationals club and every one of us feel exactly the same ..we have three ex RFU Presidents ..a Lions Manager and Baabaa’s President in our group so no little knowledge there !!
Maybe ask World Rugby? Ive def started to see refs trying to speed things up. But if we get clocks stopping, the game becomes like American Football. 3 hours for a 60 minute game.
That is more than an exaggeration !!.
They say it is all down to” tv schedules ” The money they pay is allowing them to have too much say in the game.
Considering they spend 45 mins on their ”warm up’ chat and then post match interviews I cannot see why this bothers them if the match last 100 + mins.??
What it does mean is that paying spectators are going to be far less willing to shell out good money for a 55-60 mins match !! I attend all home England matches ( with my privileged access to tickets) and even I am beginning to consider the matches very poor value for the money (£165 pm ??).
Another question please have you heard that the Championship season 2020/2021 may be cancelled ?? Also heard that this may mean that Saracens are promoted without ever playing a match ??..and that Ealing Trailfinders have been offered a promotion too..for £20m joining fee??
Keep sane,safe and healthy
John