Referee profiles E - I

Wayne Erickson (Australia)

Full name: Wayne John Erickson
Birth: Sydney, 8 March 1959
Occupation:  Professional referee, before that operations manager with the Australian Rugby Union, before that a schoolmaster
Playing career: Nearly 200 1st XV matches for UNSW and Eastern Suburbs as a tight-head prop; Sydney XV in 1983.
Started Refereeing: 1986
First Test: 1994
Number of Tests: 25
IRB Status: retired from international rugby

Duncan Forsyth (Holland)

Full name: Duncan Forsyth
Born: Rugby (England), 12 October 1951
Educated: Newcastle University
Family: Married to Sylvia with a daughter
Playing career: Rugby league for Whitehaven and Rugby Union for Egremont and Cumbria
Started refereeing: 1992
Society: Dutch Society of Rugby Referees (NSRS)
First Test: 2002, Luxembourg vs Bosnia

Bernd Gabbei (Germany)

Full name: Bernd Gabbei
Born: Berlin, 1961
Educated: Freie University in Berlin, Waterloo in Canada
Occupation: Head of the statistics department in the Ministry of education in Berlin
Marital Status: Married to Eva. They have two daughters
He played for Germany at Under-19 and Sevens
Started refereeing: 1982
First Test: 1993, Israel vs Holland in a World Cup qualifier.

Jean-Christophe Gastou (France)

Full name: Jean-Christophe Gastou
Born: 30 March 1962
Occupation: Tax official
Started refereeing:
Society: Languedoc
First Test:

Serge Goffinet (Belgium)

Full name: Serge Goffinet
Born: Nieuwpoort, 3 May 1966
Occupation: Customer Services for TESA
Playing career: Flank for ASUB Waterloo
Started refereeing: 1995
Referees' Society: Federation Belge De Rugby
Why you started refereeing:I like rugby. I am also a trainer
First Test (year and match): Switzerland vs Bosnia in 2000
Other highlights: final of Eurocup in 2000 and 2001,
Baden Wurtenberg vs Bourgogne for the Euro Region Cup

Joacim Gustafsson (Sweden)

Full name: Joacim Gustafsson
Born: Växjö, 1964
Marital Status: Married to Christina with two children
Occupation: PhD Student
Playing career: 14 years in Sweden first and second league
Started refereeing: 1995
Referees' society: Swedish Rugby Referee's Society
Number of referees in society: 20

Hakim Hadj-Bachir (France)

Full name: Hakim Hadj-Bachir
Born: 17 June 1967
Occupation: Potsal employee
Started refereeing:
Society: Auvergne
First Test:

Tim Hayes (Wales)

Full name : Timothy Lewis Hayes
Born: 21 August, 1973
Educated: Ysgol Gyfun Penweddig and Cardiff University
Occupation: School teacher at Ysgol Bro Myrddin
Started refereeing: (off and on - 1991; seriously - 1996!)
Referees Society: Llanelli & District.
First Test: Romania vs Georgia (2006)

Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Full name: William Taljaard Stopforth Henning
Birth: Nigel, 6 June 1961
Education: John Vorster High School, Police College, Pretoria Technikon
Occupation: Policeman, now professional referee
Playing career: Northern Transvaal Under 20
Referees’ Society: Blue Bulls
Date of joining: 1987
Provincial Honours: 1994
First Test: 1995, Scotland vs Western Samoa
Status: Retired from international refereeing

Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)

Full name: Taizo Hirabayashi
Born: Kyusyu on 24 April 1975
Education: Miyazaki Omiya High School, Miyazaki Sangyo Keiei University
Occupation: teacher become professional referee
Family: wife Yoko and son Sonoa
Playing career: school, university, club
Started refereeing: 1994
Society: Japan East Rugby Union
Highlights: World Under-19 Championship in Durban in 2005, World Under-21 Championship in France in 2006
First Test: Sri Lanka vs China in 2006

Paul Honiss (New Zealand)

Full name: Paul Gerard Honiss
Born: Hamilton, New Zealand 18 June 1963.
Marital Status: Married to Rebecca. They have three children - Sarah, Jacob and Nicholas.
Started refereeing: 1983
First Test: 1997, Tahiti vs Cook Islands
Number of Super 12 matches: 27
Number of NPC matches: 59
Matches involving international touring teams: 13
Arrived late for the 1999 Rugby World Cup after forgetting his passport at home!
Occupation: Professional referee since 1997