Jutge: It will be different
Joel Jutge of France is due to referee the second Test between South Africa and England at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday. He says: “It will be different.”
Jutge is also due to referee the next match between these two sides – in France in September during the World Cup. He says: “That will also be different.”
Vive la difference!
After all variety and unpredictability are the spice of sport. Jutge was a touch judge to Steve Walsh in Bloemfontein when South Africa won 58-10. But he says: “This is another rugby game, and we must be careful. Every game is different and this one will be different. Then when they meet in Farce it will be different as well – a different country, different players, different occasion.”
What happened in Bloemfontein and what happens in Pretoria may have little bearing on what happens in Paris.
Jutge is France’s top referee, one of only two full-time referees in France. The other is Christophe Berdos and Romain Poite may join them soon. Before that Jutge, from the city of Cahors north of Toulouse, on the River Lot, right in the heart of rugby-mad France, worked as a technician for Electricite de France (EDF).
He was born in Lavaur, not far away from Cahors, on 5 April 1966, and started playing rugby at the age of seven. At 18 he was playing scrumhalf for Colomiers, then a top French club. At the age of 25, injured when tackled by the great Abdel Benazzi, he started refereeing.
In 1991 Joel started refereeing, and his career has been highly successful. In 2000 he refereed his first Test – Italy vs Romania in Genoa.. In 2002 he refereed his first Six Nations match, Wales vs Scotland at Millennium Stadium and in the same year the final of the Heineken Cup, Leicester Tigers vs Munster, also at Millennium Stadium. In 2003 he refereed at the World Cup in Australia and is one of a dozen referees chosen to referee at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He refereed matches involving South Africa in the Tri-Nations twice – against Australia in Sydney and against New Zealand at Carisbrook. He also refereed the first Test between the All Blacks and the Lions.
In fact he has been all over the world and refereed on its great grounds. He has refereed in South Africa once before – South Africa vs Ireland at Newlands. This will be his first Loftus Versfeld experience, but then this year he had that dramatic, emotional match at Croke Park in Dublin when England played Ireland at the home of Gaelic Games.
Like all top referees, he loves the big occasion. On Sunday he goes back to France, which would mean he would be in good time for the final of France’s Top 14. “If somebody asked me to referee that, I would be very happy. It is a great occasion. All referees like to referee on great occasions, and the final of the Top 14 is a great occasion.”
He is part of a team of match officials – a United Nations group that includes Steve Walsh of New Zealand, Malcolm Changleng of Scotland and Derek Bevan of Wales. They have been having a quiet time in Pretoria, which may be the right place to have a quiet time! He has done some fitness work, relaxed and gone to restaurants – “nothing big”.
His family is back in Cahors – his wife and two daughters.
