Best referees for France Rugby World Cup 2023

Posted by World Wide Tickets And Hospitality on May 22nd, 2023

With the Rugby World Cup declaring its panel of referees for the 2023 contest in France. The line-up includes some aware faces including Wayne Barnes Matthew Carley, Luke Pearce and Karl Dixon; yet some new pieces are also joining the side. Also, for the first time in world cup history, there is the comfy addition of Joy Neville from Ireland who will join the managing team as a TMO.

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RWC 2023 referee Luke Pearce from England

Luke is one of the important English referees signifying the Rugby Football Union. A regular on the global rugby scene, Luke has managed in the English Premiership at the European level and globally on the biggest stage of the Rugby World Cup. Born in Pontypool in 1987 but growing up in Exeter, England, Luke first joints the Devon referee society in 2005 at the age of 16. Having played rugby at junior level with the adores of Exeter Saracens Rugby Club he turned his devotion to refereeing to continue his time in the game.

In September 2005 Luke first chosen up the whistle for a game between Crediton 2nds and Nuneaton Abbott 3rds. Rising rapidly through the ranks Luke became the youngest referee on the rugby football union National Panel in 2009. By 2011 Luke was managing his first Premiership game between Gloucester V Worcester and joined the squad for the World Seven Series the same year.

His first global was in 2013 when he took charge of a game between Romania and Russia in the European Nations Cup. The following year Luke made his Six Nations entrance. In 2019, at the RWC in Japan, Luke was involved in eight meets three of which he refereed together with Wales vs Georgia, South Africa Vs Canada, and New Zealand vs Italy and the other five as a secondary referee.

RWC referee Angus Gardner from Australia

Angus was named world rugby referee of the Year in 2018 and has supervised internationals in the biggest arenas around the world. Born in August 1984 in Sydney, Australia, Angus started refereeing at the age of just 15 when he hurt his back. Just some of the tributes Angus has collected include his choice for the IRB Junior World Championship in 2012 and 2014 and 2015 Angus was chosen as an assistant referee at the Rugby World Cup. 

Angus’s first tier one Test Match was in 2016 during which he supervised games at major competitions including the Six Nations and The Rugby Championship. His major highlight however was refereeing France Vs Argentina rugby game, the Japan Vs Ireland rugby game, and the Wales Vs Uruguay rugby game at the RWC in September 2019. 

France Rugby World Cup referee Wayne Barnes

Wayne Barnes is unquestionably one of the leading global referees in world rugby today. He has refereed games in the RWCs, Six Nations the Rugby Championship and Pacific Nations Cup. On the 5th of November 2022, Wayne Barnes refereed a game between Wales and New Zealand at the Autumn Nation Series, his 100th global game as a referee, corresponding to the record set by Nigel Owens. 

Born on the 20th of April 1979 in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, Wayne started playing rugby at the age of 8, taking up refereeing just seven years later. Since then, Wayne has become a regular referee in the English Premiership and has also been in the limelight at the Heineken Cup and the European Cup challenge. Globally, Wayne continues to break records and motivate many others in refereeing.

Ben O’Keeffe from New Zealand for Rugby World Cup 2023

Ben is one of New Zealand’s important rugby union referees supervising domestic, Super Rugby and Test Match games around the world. Born in January 1989 in Blenheim, New Zealand, Ben first started refereeing in 2008 at the age of 19, becoming an expert referee in 2013. Making his global debut during the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup, Ben managed a game between Fiji and Tonga.

Just one year later, Ben took custody of a historic game between Samoa and Georgia which ended in a 19-all draw. The same year Ben also supervised his first Six Nations game. Ben now frequently referees both Six Nations and Rugby Championship contests and was the newest referee at the 2019 RWC in Japan where he oversaw the games between Australia Vs Fiji, France Vs USA and Japan Vs Scotland. Rugby fans can book RWC Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

RWC 2023 referee Mathieu Raynal from France

Born in Perpignan, France, in 1981 Mathieu now presides at the highest level of rugby and is on the World Rugby Referees Panel, returning as a referee for his second Rugby World Cup appearance as a referee. Before refereeing Mathieu played nearby and was part of the successful junior team that won the junior competitions in France. His refereeing job started in 2001 when he joined a local referees society.

Mathieu was promoted from refereeing amateur rugby matches to the second division of France’s professional rugby structure in 2006, and quickly moved on to his first expert game as a game official between Grenoble and Toulon. Mathieu’s first test match was between Malta vs Netherlands in 2008 at the European Nations Cup, with his first Tier one fixture in 2012 an Autumn global between Scotland and Tonga.

At the time of writing, to date, Mathieu has supervised 36 test matches including fixtures at the Six Nations and the 2019 Rugby World Cup where he refereed South Africa Vs Namibia, Australia vs Uruguay, and Scotland vs Russia rugby team.

AI Monitoring of gatherings at France Rugby World Cup 2023 and Olympics

A debated measure to allow for the use of progressive artificial intelligence to monitor crowds attending this year’s RWC and next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in France has been passed by the French Administration. The system will use algorithms to identify potential issues concerning the movement of the crowds, unusual patterns and unsupervised bags.

Adversaries in France suggested it would lead to an assault on human rights and privacy but the measure has been passed for an investigational period up to the spring of 2025. CCTV and facial recognition have been in place for some time but this will bring it to a new level offering control of how they are watched by a machine rather than through the arduous process of human monitoring.

Major sporting occasions always tend to see the introduction of major new skills. The Near Field Infrastructures that allow us to tap for payment were first used in a broad public setting at the London Olympic Games in 2012. This is a little less on the side of ease and more fraught with the potential for misuse but the march of AI is hurrying and once it comes down to a safety issue at a major public meeting, it becomes hard to argue against.

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