World u20 Championship & u20 Trophy referee panels announced

The referee and TMO panels for the 2024 World Rugby U20 Championship and u20 Trophy have been announced.

The competitions are a key and proven pathway for match officials with the likes of Hollie Davidson (Sco) and Damian Schneider (Arg) having been involved in 2023 and are now operating in the full international window this summer.

U20s Championships

Nine referees have been selected for the 2024 edition, which takes place in South Africa from 29 June to 19 July.

Among them are Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), the joint most-capped female referee in test history, with compatriot Morné Ferreira, Reuben Keane (Australia) and Takehito Namekawa (Japan) all returning for a second tournament after officiating in 2023.

u20s Trophy

Eight officials from eight nations have also been selected for the U20 Trophy, which takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 2-17 July. They include Ru Campbell from the host nation, the promising 21-year-old Furuse Katsuki (Japan) and Caua Ricardo (Brazil) and Sylvain Mané (Senegal) who also officiated in the 2023 tournament in Kenya.

World Rugby Match Officials Selectors Chairman, Brett Robinson said, “As rugby grows across every continent, we must ensure that we have the strategy, people and structures in place to identify, develop and support the next generation of elite match officials. World Rugby’s new strategic plan that we now have in place does just that, and this selection is the embodiment of that plan in action.”

World Rugby U20 Championship 2024 panel – South Africa

Referees: Takehito Namekawa (JPN), Saba Abulashvili (GEO), Federico Vedovelli (Ita), Reuben Keane (Aus), Jérémy Rozier (Fra), Morné Ferreira (SA), Adam Jones (Wal), Sam Grove-White (Sco), Aimee Barrett-Theron (SA).

Television Match Officials: Matteo Liperini (Ita), Mark Patton (Ire), Mike Adamson (Scot), Damon Murphy (Aus), Tual Trainini (Fra), Ian Tempest (Eng), Ben Whitehouse (Wal), Andrew McMenemy (Sco), Andrew Jackson (Eng), Quinton Immelman (SA)* [* Will attend part of tournament]

World Rugby U20 Trophy 2024 Referee panel

Caua Ricardo (Bra), Morgan White (HKC), Furuse Katsuki (Jpn), Sylvain Mane (Sen), Ru Campbell (Sco), Nicolae Fratila (Rom), Luis Fernandez (Spn), Lex Weiner (USA)