Female referee for U19 showpiece

Australian woman makes rugby history

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced the match officials for April's 2007 IRB Under-19 World Cup in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The panel includes, for the first time in an IRB men's tournament, a female referee.

Australian Sarah Corrigan, who officiated the bronze medal play-off at the recent Women's Rugby World Cup, has been included in the panel of 18 match officials.

"Sarah Corrigan displayed great maturity in her performances at last year's Women's Rugby World Cup in Canada and the IRB Referee Selection Committee felt that she thoroughly deserved a place within what is a panel of very promising referees," said IRB Referees Manager Paddy O'Brien.

"The IRB Under-19 World Championships represents a fantastic opportunity for the best young players to showcase their talents on the international stage, and the same can certainly be said for the match officials."

This could mean that women officials in Test matches may be on the horizon, as O'Brien believes the tournament is a stepping stone not only for players, but also for referees on their way to higher things.

"The tournament plays a pivotal role in match official development in terms of preparation for the Test arena. Indeed, the panel will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Peter Fitzgibbon, Andrew McPherson and Frederico Cuesta who have advanced to referee Test matches on the back of their performances at the 2006 IRB Under-19 World Championships.

"It is also important to note that 14 Unions are represented within the panel, including referees from Fiji, Portugal and Samoa, reflecting the global growth of match official training and education."

Individual match appointments for the opening rounds of the tournament will be made when the match officials arrive in Belfast at the end of March. Each referee will officiate a minimum of two matches in the early stages of the tournament, with performances being assessed before appointments for the subsequent rounds are made.

Meanwhile, the IRB has also announced the final two Division B teams to be confirmed through the qualification process.

Cook Islands defeated Papua New Guinea 22-21 in Australia on Saturday to book a place in Pool C, whilst Chinese Tapei will join Tonga and Chile in Pool B after winning the Asian qualifying tournament.

2007 IRB Under-19 World Championships match official panel:
David Keane (Ireland)
Neil Paterson (Scotland)
James Jones (Wales)
Dean Richards (England)
Jerome Garces (France)
Alan Falzone (Italy)
Matt Stanish (New Zealand)
Julian Pritchard (Australia)
Phillip Bosch (South Africa)
Joao Mourinha (Portugal)
Phi Smith (Canada)
James Bolabiu (Fiji)
Javier Mancuso (Argentina)
Sarah Corrigan (Australia)

Touch judge panel:
Kyosuke Toda (Japan)
Laifaga Unasa (Samoa)
* Two further appointments to the touch judge panel will be announced shortly.