Former Premiership refereeing stalwart, Dean Richards has joined the RFU as the Premier 15s Mach Officials Manager. The new Head of the Professional Game Match Officials Team (PGMOT), Paul Hull, has confirmed Richards as one of three dedicated positions on his leadership team. Richards joins former Rugby World Cup referee Chris White, Premiership match official manager and Steve Leyshon who returns to the RFU in a second stint as the Championship Match Official Manager.
Richard’s joins the RFU from the education sector, in this new dedicated new role managing the Allianz Premier 15s match officials. In is own refereeing career, he refereed 93 Premiership matches, three u19 Rugby World Cups, as well as taking charge of two Army Navy matches and the Varsity match before heading to the TMO truck last season. Richards will be a dedicated point of contact for the Premier 15s clubs on all matters related to match officials and will lead talent identification and coaching/development of Match Officials.
10 year strategy for Premier 15s
Back in June, the RFU unveiled their new ambitious ten-year strategy to professionalise the Premier 15s which includes a £220m investment in the professional women’s game over ten years.
Speaking to RugbyReferee.net, Paul Hull said: “I am delighted that Dean Richards has taken on the newly created role of Allianz Premier 15s match officials manager. With the RFU having recently announced a ten-year strategy to turn the Premier 15s into the most competitive, progressive and sustainable domestic competition in the world, having a dedicated match officials manager for the league is a natural step forward.”
Best of luck to Dean in this new role
Well done Delano best of luck in your new job.