The WRU have announced that Ben Whitehouse will retire from officiating following Saturday’s URC match between the Ospreys and Dragons, to take up a new role assisting the Wales men’s coaching team.
He follows others from the elite refereeing community to make similar moves in the past move with the likes of Steve Lander (Eng & Lions), Glen Jackson (NZ into Fiji Drua), Jerome Garces (France) and Jaco Peyper (SA) all moving from refereeing into team assistance.
115 and out
Whitehouse’ final hoorah with the whistle will be at St Helens in Swansea and will be his 115th URC match which is the fourth highest behind countryman Nigel Owens (189), and the Irish duo of George Clancy (125) and Andrew Brace (116 at the weekend). During his refereeing career, he also has a nine test matches on field, has 60 TMO caps and has officiated at two World Cups (21(in 22) & women’s 2023 men’s)
Whitehouse started his refereeing career at the age of 19 during the 2009/10 season and quickly made his way through the ranks at the Welsh Rugby Union. His Pro 12 debut was in the Connacht v Zebre tie in November 2014, before going onto referee over 100 matches in the BKT United Rugby Championship – at the time, only the third person in the competition’s history to reach the milestone. Andrew Brace has since joined that list. Whitehouse also officiated in the Guinness Men’s and Women’s Six Nations, The Rugby Championship and the Nations Championship. He did all that having overcome some serious life-threatening health issues to boot.
In his new role within Steve Tandy’s coaching team, Whitehouse will work closely with coaches and players around the principles of law, discipline, decision-making and communication.
Speaking about the appointment, Tandy said, “Ben’s had a big impact already in his work with us so far this year and it’s great to now make that a more formal role. His knowledge of the game from his experience officiating, not only around the laws but also in terms of communication, is hugely beneficial and we’ll be working hard as a group to continue to build and improve in this area during the next phase of the Nations Championship in November.”
Whitehouse said, “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time so far with Steve, the coaches and players. Rugby has been a huge part of my life since a young age and Wales means everything to me. It’s a huge honour to become part of the national squad set up and I’m excited to continue working with the group as we head into our next block of matches this autumn.”
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