Rugby sevens match officials unveiled for Tokyo Olympics with 100 days to go
Rugby sevens competition takes place from 26-31 July, 2021 at Tokyo Stadium
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 16, 2021/ -- Squad of 22 match officials from 12 countries selected for the
Olympic Games in Tokyo; Inclusion of five international players who have swapped the playing shirt for the whistle, including New Zealand’s
Rugby World Cup winner Selica Winiata; Eight female referees including
two making their second appearances at the Olympic Games; Rugby sevens
competition takes place from 26-31 July, 2021 at Tokyo Stadium;
Saturday, 17 April marks 100 days to go to rugby sevens kick off, as
team preparations continue to be supported by US$4 million World Rugby (www.WorldRugby.org) investment.
The squad of 22 match officials that will take charge of the women’s and men’s rugby sevens competitions at the delayed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has today been announced by World Rugby to mark the 100 days to go
milestone until the action kicks off in Tokyo Stadium on 26 July, 2021.
The match officials' squad contains representatives from 12 countries
spread across four continents and includes eight female referees. The
group includes a blend of highly experience referees and exciting young
talent making their debuts on the Olympic stage.
Both Sara Cox and Amy Perrett were involved in the Olympic Games Rio
2016, with Perrett having refereed the first ever Olympic rugby sevens
match and also the women’s bronze medal match. In a clear demonstration
of progress, six of the selected match officials gained invaluable
experience at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires, including
Portugal’s Paulo Duarte who took charge of the men’s final.
The individuals were selected by the World Rugby’s Match Official
Selection Committee following a comprehensive review of performances and fitness. All selected referees have proven themselves on the annual
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and many also featured at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth
Games.
The group also includes five internationals who have swapped the playing shirt for the whistle. Selica Winiata is a current Black Ferns player
who has been capped 40 times and is aiming to compete at the Rugby World Cup on home soil next year. She was a Rugby World Cup winner in 2017,
scoring two tries in the final at her second Rugby World Cup. She is
also a former Black Ferns Sevens player, becoming Rugby World Cup Sevens champion in 2013, and runner-up in 2009. She has since refereed at four events on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and impressed when
refereeing at the Oceania Rugby Women's Sevens Championship in November
2019.
Also making the conversion from player to referee is Julianne Zussman
who scored 18 tries in 44 tests for Canada and played in three Rugby
World Cups, claiming a runners-up medal in 2014. Madeleine Putz played
for Australia, including twice at Rugby World Cup 2014. On the men’s
side Richard Haughton played for England at Rugby World Cup Sevens in
2005 and at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, while Damon Murphy
represented Australia at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 and at the
Commonwealth Games in 2006.
The full match official squad for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 rugby sevens is:
Men’s tournament:
James Doleman (New Zealand)
Craig Evans (Wales, Great Britain)
Francisco Gonzalez (Uruguay)** and ****
Sam Grove-White (Scotland, Great Britain)***
Noriaki Hashimoto (Japan)
Richard Haughton (England)***
Damon Murphy (Australia)***
Nehuen Rivero (Argentina)** and ****
Matt Rodden (Hong Kong)
Damian Schneider (Argentina)** and ****
Jordan Way (Australia)***
Women’s
Sara Cox (England, Great Britain)* and ***
Amy Perrett (Australia)*
Hollie Davidson (Scotland, Great Britain)***
Lauren Jenner (New Zealand)**
Adam Jones (Wales, Great Britain)
Paulo Duarte (Portugal)** and ****
Tyler Miller (Australia)
Madeleine Putz (Australia)**
Tevita Rokovereni (Fiji)***
Selica Winiata (New Zealand)
Julianne Zussman (Canada)
*participated at Olympic Games Rio 2016
**participated at Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018
***participated at Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 2018
****participated at Pan American Games Lima 2019
VIEW FULL LIST OF MATCH OFFICIALS HERE >> https://bit.ly/2OX1f6I
Jeremy Rozier of France was due to be selected for the men’s tournament
but has withdrawn through injury sustained in training. Japan’s Nori
Hashimoto will perform the role of assistant referee in Tokyo.
It has also been confirmed today that Hollie Davidson (Scotland), Sam
Grove-White (Scotland), Sara Cox (England), Richard Haughton (England),
Adam Jones (Wales), Craig Evans (Wales) and Paulo Duarte (Portugal) will officiate at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco on 19-20 June,
which is the final Olympic qualification event at which the last two
women’s and one men’s teams for Tokyo will be decided.
World Rugby High Performance Sevens Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien said:
“We have selected a match officials squad that includes a good mix of
experience and youth, with selection based on merit following a thorough evaluation of performances and I thank all those involved in the
process.
“Just like the players, coaches and teams, the match officials are
preparing and training hard in order to arrive in Tokyo in peak physical and mental condition to perform to the very best of their abilities for what will be a career highlight for all involved.
“We are proud of the leading position that rugby enjoys in the mutual
respect and values demonstrated between match officials and players. The Olympic Games present an excellent opportunity to showcase the very
best of rugby on the greatest sporting stage on the planet and I am have every confidence that the individuals announced today will represent
themselves and the sport with great integrity, skill and pride in
Tokyo.”
The milestone for 100 days until the Olympic rugby sevens kick off falls on Saturday, 17 April and comes as the sport’s Olympic preparations
stepped up a gear with 14 women’s and men’s teams competing at the
successful high-performance preparation event in Dubai over the past two weekends on 2-3 and 8-9 April.
To ensure both the teams and referees are as best prepared as possible
for the Olympic Games, and thanks to support received from the
International Olympic Committee, World Rugby is investing US$4 million
into Olympic qualified unions’ sevens programmes and towards the costs
of hosting a number of high-performance preparation events, such as the
tournament in Dubai.
Australia and Fiji are reigning women’s and men’s Olympic champions
respectively following their victories in Rio, and the competition for
medals has never been closer with the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series
showcasing in recent years that a wide number of teams are capable of
reaching the medal podium, including the hosts Japan whose men’s team
finished fourth at the Rio 2016 Games and were champions of the
inaugural HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series in 2020 before the
onset of the pandemic.
The inclusion of rugby sevens for the first time at the Olympic Games
Rio 2016 had a profound effect on the sport, attracting an estimated 30
million new fans globally and rugby sevens is expected to be one of the
most highly anticipated events of the Tokyo Games, following the
outstanding success of Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, which captured the nation’s imagination with record-breaking broadcast audiences and huge
numbers of new rugby fans across Japan and Asia.
The men’s competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s
tournament following on the 29-31 July with the gold medal match
happening on ‘Super Saturday’. All the action will take place at Tokyo
Stadium, which was the venue for the opening match of Rugby World Cup
2019.
VIEW RUGBY SEVENS OLMYPIC NEWS >> https://bit.ly/2QtudLZ
Rugby sevens match officials unveiled for Tokyo Olympics with 100 days to go
Rugby sevens match officials unveiled for Tokyo Olympics with 100 days to go
Rugby sevens match officials unveiled for Tokyo Olympics with 100 days to go
Rugby sevens match officials unveiled for Tokyo Olympics with 100 days to go
Rugby sevens match officials unveiled for Tokyo Olympics with 100 days to go
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