Berry hits the jackpot in Las Vegas

Up-and-coming South African referee Stu Berry was one of eight referees at the IRB Sevens in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he was the one chosen to referee the Final of the Cup.

Berry has only recently been selected to South Africa’s National Panel of referees, the panel of the top referees in South Africa. Currently he is ranked 8th.

His first IRB appointment was to the Sevens in Wellington. His next tournament was in Las Vegas, and he was the referee appointed to the Final.

The Final was between Samoa and New Zealand, which meant that the New Zealand referee Mike Fraser would not be appointed, as would have been the case for Berry had South Africa made the Final.

The referees for the Las Vegas Sevens were Stuart Berry (South Africa), James Bolabiu (Fiji), JP Doyle (England), Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan), Andrew Lees (Australia), Harry Mason (Singapore), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)

South Africa’s refereeing boss, André Watson, the only man to referee two World Cup Finals, was delighted at Berry’s appointment, saying: “It was great to have seen Stuart Berry in action in the final of the Las Vegas Sevens tournament. It is always a pleasure to see talent being acknowledged, but more importantly that the hard work put in by Stuart and the coaching staff paying off dividends. Our challenge as ever is to remain focused and hungry in our strive for excellence in refereeing.”