Changleng goes part-time
Malcolm Changleng, Scotland’s only full-time referee, has decided to go back to teaching, whence he came.
For some this will be a blow to the aspirations of Scottish referees to have men at the highest level of refereeing.
Changleng, who is 38, became a full-time referee with Scottish Rugby in 2002. In 2007 he refereed a match between South Africa and Samoa at Ellis Park and was at the 2007 World Cup in France as one of the group of 16 touch judges and television match officials. That placed him in the top thirty of referees in the world. He was a touch judge for 25 Tests and refereed two World Cup Qualifiers, the last between Romania and Spain.
Changleng has refereed 16 Heineken Cup matches, the Under-19 World Cup in Paris, the Under-21 World Cup in Mendoza, Argentina and the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Canada. He was one of the International Rugby Board’s group of referees for the World Sevens Series for two seasons and was the Sevens World Cup in Hong Kong.
On his decision Changleng said: “Having spent so much time travelling to all parts of the rugby world in the last six years I’ve decided the time is right to spend a bit more time at home with my young family and return to a career in teaching.
“I will continue to referee in Scotland for the rest of the season and review my involvement thereafter.”
The Scottish Rugby Union’s head of community rugby, Colin Thomson, said: “Scottish Rugby values the contribution Malcolm Changleng has made as an integral part of the game and we welcome Malcolm’s intention to continue refereeing in Scotland, where players in the community game will be the beneficiaries of his wisdom and experience.
“Scottish Rugby is committed to producing top-flight referees and we are actively considering our professional referee structure as part of our strategic plan.”
Scotland is looking to add 600 referees to its 1 200 referees at present.
Malcolm Changleng and his twin brother David played many seasons together for the Gala club on the Scottish Borders. Malcolm also turned out for the Borders in the first seasons of professional rugby in Scotland. “It was a real thrill to play in the inaugural Heineken Cup years against sides of the calibre of Llanelli, Leinster and Leicester and you could tell even then that rugby was about to undertake a real revolution” he recalls.
Playing career over he took up the whistle and quickly progressed to refereeing the professional game. ” I was a PE teacher at Galashiels Academy – the Alma Mater of famous rugby men such as Gregor Townsend, Peter Dods and Chris Paterson- but as the travel involved in the modern game increased, it was obvious that I need to become a full-time professional referee which I did in 2002.”
David Changleng is also a top referee in Scotland but has continued as a schoolmaster, teaching PE at Peebles High School.
