Romain Poite, the long serving French referee, who made his debut in 2006, will take charge of his 72nd and final test match this weekend. as Scotland host Australia.
He cements his status as third on the all-time list of test match appearances behind Nigel Owens (100) and Wayne Barnes (96).
Despite stepping down from the international scene, Poite, now aged 46, will continue to officiate at domestic and European level.
Romain has featured at every Rugby World Cup since New Zealand 2011 and has taken charge of multiple European and domestic finals during an illustrious international career that began with Morocco versus Namibia in a Rugby World Cup 2007 qualifier.
He will be remembered for many things, including his accurate refereeing of the 2017 England v Italy game which threw up mass confusion when Italy didn’t engage in the ruck so therefore didn’t need oblige by ruck offside laws – (the law was subsequently changed) and which saw him tell James Haskell “I am not your coach, I am the referee.” He was also in charge of the British & Irish Lions match in New Zealand which ended in some controversy – you can remind yourself of that one here!
World Rugby Vice-Chairman Bernard Laporte said, “On behalf of World Rugby I would like to express my gratitude to Romain Poite. To serve as a test rugby referee for more than 15 years is not easy. He has always been dedicated to being the best he can be on the field, while being a committed and valued team player away from the match. I would like to wish him all the best.”
Joël Jutge, World Rugby High Performance 15s Match Officials Manager, added: “Romain has been a dedicated and popular member of the World Rugby match officials team for more than 15 years and a superb servant to international match officiating. I would like to wish him all the best as he embarks on a new chapter in his life and thank him for his contribution, both as a match official and mentor to young international referees.”
Congratulations too from the RugbyReferee.net community for a great career – we all wish you well in the future.