The following update is provided by Michael Woods, LSRFUR Appointments and Grading Committee Secretary:
The Appointments & Grading Committee are delighted to announce the following promotions, which were confirmed at the second meeting of the season on Monday 10th December:
Andrew Richards (Centre)
Alex Rose (Left) & Tom Smith (Right)
Benjie Ainsworth-Taylor
Andrew Richards (North) promoted to Level 8.
Andrew’s commitment to the North region is of particular note as he regularly referees on both Saturday & Sunday, as well as midweek.
Ashley Lipke (South West) promoted to Level 8.
Brian Winter (South West) promoted to Level 8.
Tom Smith (North) promoted to Level 7 and Premier List.
Constantijn Bakker (West) promoted to Level 7 and Premier List.
Constantijn was unfortunate not to be promoted at the end of last season, but took the feedback he was provided positively and has shown much improvement in the first half of the season.
Benjie Ainsworth-Taylor (South West & Premier List) promoted to Level 6.
Alex Rose (West & Premier List) promoted to Level 6.
Alex’s performances at the National Schools Rugby Festival at St Joseph’s College, where he was selected to referee the Plate Final, were of particular note in the first half of the season.
There were also numerous promotions made by the Regions in the build up to Christmas which will be communicated by each region to their members in the next few weeks.
The Committee were delighted to receive extremely positive feedback from all 4 international exchanges (Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Dubai) which took place in November and early December. Thank you to all our referees for your efforts on these trips, and those in London who hosted, guided, and helped out with out visiting referees from Japan. A particular mention must go to West Region member Richard Gourlay for his efforts in setting up and running the Japanese exchange.
The New Year brings an exciting new challenge as we take on the South Coast 7s at Portsmouth Grammar School in February, as well as existing schools 7s tournaments at Reigate, Hampton and more, culminating in 2019’s Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens from 25th to 29th March, which will be the 80th edition of the tournament. If you would like to referee at the National Schools Sevens, please contact Andrew Nugee (andrew@nugee.com) who has taken over from Eric Hewitt as Referee Manager. Our thanks go to Eric for the exceptional amount of hard work he has put into National Schools Sevens on behalf of the Society.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all referees, match observers and appointers for the hard work they have put into this first half of the 2018/2019. Of particular note is the work of Hannah Everitt (for the Premier List), & the Regional re-appointments teams, who keep the whole show on the road and without whom we would simply not have been able to cover the sheer number of fixtures we have since September - thank you.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas, hope you enjoy the well deserved break and look forward to seeing you all again in 2019.