Leading women’s officials set for Hong Kong 7s

from IRB.com:

The IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup in Hong Kong this weekend is another significant step on the road to Rio de Janeiro and Rugby Sevens’ debut in the Olympic Games 2016 for all the players involved.

However, as women’s rugby continues to grow at a phenomenal rate, it is not just the players and coaches who are relishing the chance to test themselves at the highest level.

For a new generation of women’s referees the Cup provides greater opportunities to officiate at international level, ensuring the best female officials are also ready for the Olympic Games and Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow next year.

Included on the IRB elite women’s panel for Hong Kong are 21 year old Brigitte Tyler from New Zealand, the youngest female referee to officiate at an IRB tournament, and former South Africa player Marilize Jordaan who played Fifteens in 2009 and 2010.

Tyler and Jordaan are two of five IRB referees selected, with Amy Perrett from Australia, Gabriel Lee from Hong Kong and the USA’s Leah Berard completing the panel.

Tyler will officiate at both Hong Kong and the third IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup event in London in May, making her the only referee to be present at all three Cup tournaments this season.

Clear strategy

“I was lucky enough to referee at the Dubai tournament at the end of last year and I learnt a lot from that. This is also a great chance to experience new cultures and meet a lot of other female referees,” admitted Tyler.

“The opportunity the Olympics bring is something to look forward to and it is definitely a goal of mine, but I know the hard work is only just beginning.”

Brigitte grew up in Wellington watching her two brothers play for the Poneke Club. She started refereeing aged 16 in the under 13 competition. She has refereed Fifteens for the last six years and only got into Sevens in 2011.

Overseeing the development and performance of elite women’s referees is IRB Referee Consultant Bernd Gabbei, who works closely with IRB Women’s Development Manager Susan Carty and IRB Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien to ensure the pathway is as clear for the women in the middle as it is for their male counterparts.

“There is a clear strategy as stated in the IRB Women’s Rugby Plan to increase elite competition with the goal of delivering a world-class Olympic Games event and Rugby World Cup tournaments in both Sevens and Fifteens in the next four years,” explained Gabbei, who is in Hong Kong for the event.

“We have a wonderful opportunity to develop and test our leading female officials in the high intensity environment of the HSBC Sevens World Series with the IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup running parallel to the men’s events here in Hong Kong and in London.”

Parallels for women’s officials

“We have worked closely with Member Unions to identity the leading talent among a growing number of women’s officials and provide them with the training, development and competition environments to increase standards in this key area of the Women’s Game.”

Women’s Rugby World Cup referee Sherry Trumbull from Canada will join Tyler in London following a busy Women’s Six Nations campaign. Trumbull admits that as players strive for improvement, so referees should have the same ambitions.

“It’s clear that the quality of play, the pace of the game, the basic skills and decision-making has come a long way at all levels of the women’s game. Players are more experienced, better physically trained and more knowledgeable thanks in large part to the high level of coaching many countries are receiving,” said Trumbull.

“The IRB refereeing panel will only encourage this trend. It will give us the same high level coaching as the players, including the opportunity to work with some amazing referee coaches, performance reviewers and top level male referees. And with consistency and high standards applied, players will know what to expect from game to game and develop their skill set from there.”

Making their IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup debuts in London will be England’s Sara Cox and Sylvie Bros from France. Former international Itziar Diaz from Spain, who represented her country at the Women’s Rugby World Cup on home soil in 2002, and Katharina Pickert from Germany will also be part of the team in London as they were in Dubai.