It’s Christmas week and after a couple of weeks of European comps, it’s back to domestic league action across Europe and SA.
In France, the Top14 resumes with league leaders Toulouse away at Lyon in round 12. Adrien Marbot (pictured top right) referees that one. We’re up to round 15 in the ProD2. It’s weekend 8 in both the URC and Premiership with Hamish Smales (top left) overseeing the Leicester/Bristol tie on Saturday. In the URC most refs are sticking close to home – except Ben Whitehouse who heads over to Ulster. As well as those, we have the women’s PWR (Nikki O’Donnell (bottom left) refs at Sale) and the men’s Championship in England, plus men’s prems in the Netherlands and Hong Kong China. Everyone else is already on a festive break.
A warm welcome back to the list to our friends in Japan with all three divisions of the League One restarting. The home-grown referee pool there has been growing there and good to see Ano Kuwai (bottom right) in action in the men’s match where the Sayama Secom Rugguts play Akishima. There will be incoming refs from NZ/Aus through the season – Marcus Plalye from NZ is first up, running the line this weekend. Good luck to everyone out there.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.
Keith
France: ProD2 – round 15
CA Brive v SU Agen
Referee: Pierre Bru
ARs: Thomas Chereque & Christophe Gaillardon
TMO: Akim Hadj Bachir
Stade Niçois Rugby v FC Grenoble Rugby
Referee: Stephane Coulon
ARs: Sylvain Jaymes & Thibault Santamaria
TMO: Mourad Zitouni
Provence Rugby v Valence Romans
Referee: Remi Aiguebonne
ARs: Benoit Albert Bonnafous & Flavien Hourquet
TMO: Jean Luc Rebollal
Soyaux-Angoulême XV v USON Nevers
Referee: Cyrille Boulay
ARs: Sylvain Desvaux & Hugo Dutreuilh
TMO: Patrick Dellac
Stade Aurillacois v US Dax
Referee: David Beun
ARs: Julien Caulier & Fabrice Hand
TMO: Laurent Sclafer
Stade Montois Rugby v AS Béziers Hérault
Referee: Ludovic Carrillo
ARs: Mourad Gharbi Tarchouna & Jean Lespes
TMO: Patrick Pechambert
US Montalbanaise v Oyonnax Rugby
Referee: Evan Urruzmendi
ARs: Benjamin Beuriot & Walter Prache
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure
Colomiers Rugby v Biarritz Olympique PB
Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau
ARs: Herve Lasausa & Thierry Mallet
TMO: Christophe Berdos
France – Top 14 – round 12
Stade Rochelais v ASM Clermont
Referee: Pierre Brousset
ARs: Vincent Blasco Baque & Richard Duhau
TMO: Thomas Charabas
Montpellier Hérault Rugby v Racing 92
Referee: Tual Trainini
ARs: Jonathan Gasnier & Cyrille Le Gall
TMO: Eric Briquet Campin
RC Toulon v Section Paloise
Referee: Jeremy Rozier
ARs: Frederic Masse & Mathieu Noirot
TMO: Eric Gauzins
RC Vannes v Aviron Bayonnais
Referee: Kevin Bralley
ARs: Stephane Boyer & Pierre Baptiste Nuchy
TMO: Denis Grenouillet
Stade Français Paris v USA Perpignan
Referee: Luc Ramos
ARs: Laurent Millotte & Benoit Rousselet
TMO: Cedric Marchat
Castres Olympique v Union Bordeaux-Bègles
Referee: Ludovic Cayre
ARs: Anthony Lac & Benoit Lapassade
TMO: Jonathan Dufort
Lou Rugby v Stade Toulousain
Referee: Adrien Marbot
ARs: Christophe Bultet & Vivien Praderie
TMO: Julien Castaignede
Hong Kong China: Nan Fung Group AIRSIDE Men’s Premiership
Societe Generale Valley RFC v DLA Piper Kowloon Rugby Club
Referee: Craig Chan (35th Prem Appointment)
ARs: Sam Brown & Sam Chan
HKFC Natixis Club v MND Hong Kong Scottish
Referee: Matt Rodden (89th Prem Appointment)
ARs: Shane Barr & Patrick Kwok
Kroll USRC Tigers RFC v HKU Sandy Bay RFC
Referee: Shane Barr (18th Prem Appointment)
ARs: Craig Chan & Owen Ford
Japan: NTT LEAGUE ONE
Division 1 – rd 1
SHIZUOKA BLUE REVS v KOBELCO KOBE
Referee: Tasuku Kawahara
ARs: Hiroshi Kitamura & Yuma Higashimura
TMO: Koji Taniguchi
MIE HONDA HEAT v BLACK RAMS TOKYO
Referee: Takehito Namekawa
ARs: Atsushi Yamamoto & Nobuya Okazaki
TMO: Nobutsugu Oda
KUBOTA SPEARS v TOYOTA VERBLITZ TOKYO
Referee: Ibuki Tetsuka
ARs: Katsuku Furuse & Rikito Nobuhara
TMO: Tomohiro Koyama
MITSUBISHI DYNABOARS v URAYASU D-Rocks
Referee: Teruhisa Kajiwara
ARs: Kenta Mitsui & Masamichi Tatekawa
TMO: Yoshiyuki Nino
YOKOHAMA CANON EAGLES v TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS
Referee: Koki Yamauchi
ARs: Takehito Namekawa & Atsushi Yamamoto
TMO: Tasuku Kawahara
Division 2 – rd1
HANAZONO KINTETSU LINERS v TOYOTA SHUTTLES AICHI
Referee: Motonori Mizutani
ARs: Marcus Playle (NZ) & Takaya Sugawa
TMO: Katsuhiko Ishii
KYUDEN VOLTEX v KAMAISHI SEAWAVES
Referee: Toshimasa Sekiya
ARs: Noriaki Hashimoto & Yusaku Murata
TMO: Tomohiro Koyama
HINO RED DOLPHINS v SHIMIZU KOTO BLUE SHARKS
Referee: Sota Ohuchi
ARs: Motornori Mizutani & Takahiro Kano
TMO: Koji Taniguchi
RED HURRICANES OSAKA v NEC GREEN ROCKETS TOKATSU
Referee: Masaki Kondou
ARs: Noriaki Hashimoto & Teruki Inanishi
TMO: Katsuhiko Ishii
Div 3 – rd 1
CHUDEN RED REGULIONS v SKYACTIVES HIROSHIMA
Referee: Teruki Inanishi
ARs: Shuhei Hamada & Junichiro Yotsuji
SAYAMA SECOM RUGGUTS v KURITA WATER GUSH AKISHIMA
Referee: Ano Kuwai
ARs: Ryoji Hirose & Asahi Takara
LeRIRIO FUKUOKA v YAKULT LEVINS TOKYO
Referee: Tetsuya Hirakawa
ARs: Toshimasa Sekiya & Itsuki Maeda
England: Gallagher Premiership – round 8
Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins
Referee: Christophe Ridley (83rd Premiership match)
ARs: Luke Pearce & Andrew Jackson
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Leicester Tigers v Bristol Bears
Referee: Hamish Smales (17th Premiership match)
ARs: Hamish Grant & Simon Harding
TMO: David Rose
Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (36th Premiership match)
ARs: Jack Makepeace & John Meredith
TMO: Peter Allan
Newcastle Falcons v Bath Rugby
Referee: Ian Tempest (120th Premiership match)
ARs: Karl Dickson & Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards
Saracens v Northampton Saints
Referee: Adam Leal (43rd Premiership match)
ARs: Sara Cox & Jonathan Healy
TMO: Dan Jones
England: The PWR
Sale Sharks Women v Loughborough Lightning
Referee: Nikki O’Donnell
ARs: Simon Park & Nia Sterenborg
Saracens Women v Bristol Bears Women
Referee: Owen Taylor
ARs: Jason Garrick & Gareth Holsgrove
Exeter Chiefs Women v Gloucester-Hartpury Women
Referee: Joe James
ARs: Fiona Brunt & Simon Adams
Harlequins Women v Leicester Tigers Women
Referee: Holly Wood
ARs: Calum Howard & James Cornell
England: RFU Championhip
Caldy v London Scottish
Referee: Harry Walbaum
ARs: Neil Chivers & Gregg Dawson
Cambridge v Ampthill
Referee: George Selwood
ARs: Kieron Henry & James Cornell
Hartpury University v Nottingham
Referee: Jamie Parr
ARs: Paul Dix & Kevin Williams
Chinnor v Bedford Blues
Referee: Charlie Gayther
ARs: James Clarke & James Pidding
Coventry v Ealing Trailfinders
Referee: Dan Jones
ARs: Calum Howard & Veryan Boscawen
Cornish Pirates v Doncaster Knights
Referee: Richard Gordon
ARs: Veryan Boscawen & Kevin Williams
BKT United Rugby Championship – Round 8
Ulster v Munster
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wal, 104th league game)
ARs: Andrew Cole (Ire) & Sam Holt (Ire)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wal)
Benetton v Zebre Parma
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (Ita, 12th league game)
ARs: Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita) & Alex Frasson (Ita)
TMO: Stefano Penne (Ita)
DHL Stormers v Emirates Lions
Referee: Christopher Allison (SA, 2nd league game)
ARs: AJ Jacobs (SA) & Stephan Geldenhuys (SA)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SA)
Hollywoodbets Sharks v Vodacom Bulls
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SA, 14th league game)
ARs: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SA) & Griffin Colby (SA)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (SA)
Ospreys v Scarlets
Referee: Craig Evans (Wal, 61st league game)
ARs: Ben Connor (Wal) AR 2: Adam Jones (Wal)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wal)
Leinster v Connacht
Referee: Chris Busby (Ire, 48th league game)
ARs: Peter Martin (Ire) & Stuart Gaffikin (Ire)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ire)
Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Sco, 16th league game)
ARs: Sam Grove-White (Sco) & Ru Campbell (Sco)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Sco)
Dragons RFC v Cardiff Rugby
Referee: Adam Jones (Wal, 41st league game)
ARs: Ben Breakspear (Wal) & Ben Whitehouse (Wal)
TMO: Keith David (Wal)
Netherlands: Men’s Ereklasse
RC ‘t Gooi v Breda RC
Referee: Wissem Letaif
Haagsche RC v RFC Oisterwijk Oysters
Referee: Gert Visser
RC Eemland v RFC Haarlem
Referee: Koen Maaijen
Castricum RC v RC Hoek van Holland
Referee: Bram Oudman
RC DIOK v Rotterdamse RC
Referee: Katherine Ritchie
AAC v RC The Dukes
Referee: Edwin van der Spek
