Match officials for the weekend, including England vs France referee

RUCK’s 2023 Six Nations content powered by ISUZU.

Referee: Damon Murphy (RA)

Assistant Referee 1: Karl Dickson (RFU)

Assistant Referee 2: Chris Busby (IRFU)

TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)

Assistant Referee 1: Jaco Peyper (SARU)

Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)

Having started officiating in 2008 at the age of 19, Ben is already approaching 150 first class matches, refereeing internationals at major tournaments from the Six Nations to the World Cup.

Ben kindly gave up his Saturday morning to talk to the team at Acme Whistles to reveal all!

That’s a tough one as there’s a lot of pretty awesome players I’ve refereed. We always have to build a relationship with captains and so for me it’s those players that I really remember as great players maybe not necessarily because scoring tries, but because they’re really commanding on the pitch, and they challenge you respectfully. Players that come to mind are Rory Best the Ireland hooker; Guilhem Guirado was great; Alun Wyn Jones for Wales has been fantastic; and then there’s Siya Kolisi whose come onto the scene in the last few years. It’s those guys that as a referee I remember as the greatest players.Embed from Getty Images//embed.gettyimages.com/embed/1062995740?et=IdCT9vRqRjdekaNmR2Itvg&tld=co.uk&sig=sdzu8W8gqO9cYEPaEWo6UoEKipOfmJ5fbY6pXjGTd0A=&caption=true&ver=2

I think like Ma’a Nonu, yeah he was pretty tough. I’ve noticed over the last few years that players are just a lot bigger, a lot faster and a lot stronger. 

I trained with the Highlanders pre-season one year and you get a real appreciation of how big, fit and hard they hit. That just remind me why I just I love referring – so I don’t have to take those big hits 😉.

I’d definitely take the unlimited supply of water, Uber Eats would be quite handy, and obviously friends and family as well! Everything to eat, drink and have fun.

Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)

Assistant Referee 1: Wayne Barnes (RFU)

Assistant Referee 2: Christophe Ridley (RFU)

TMO: Stuart Terheege (RFU)

Pearce was just 21 when he refereed in the RFU Championship in 2009, and has continuously progressed since. Rising through the ranks of the English, European, and world system of rugby refereeing. So far, the Welsh-born but very English official has overseen 31 international fixtures from the centre of the pitch.

Toughest player to referee: “I’ll answer this question properly when I retire but I’ve had a few run-ins with (Johnny) Sexton down the years. He’s a top player but sometimes he pushes his luck.”