Irish refs get top appointments

The high standing of Irish referees in World rugby has been reflected in the number of prestigious appointments they have received for upcoming summer internationals.

Dave McHugh, Alain Rolland, Donal Courtney and Alan Lewis have been selected to referee major games between June and August, in Australia, New Zealand, Namibia, South Africa and Scotland.

Furthermore, Simon McDowell will touch judge in the South Africa v Scotland and France v England matches.

Another boost for the standing of IRFU’s referees is that former International referee Stephen Hilditch has been appointed as one of eight assessors to the Rugby World Cup, 2003 in Australia and Tom Aplin and Jim Irvine are appointed to assess major Tests in South Africa and New Zealand during the summer programme of matches.

The 2003 Summer Internationals schedule for Irish referees is: -

June 21: Australia v England - Dave McHugh

June 21: New Zealand v Wales - Alan Lewis

July 11: Namibia v Monu Samoa - Alain Rolland

July 19: South Africa v New Zealand - Alain Rolland

Aug 23: Scotland v Italy - Donal Courtney.