English referees cross the Channel
English referee Wayne Barnes will take charge of the French Top 14 game between Bourgoin and Biarritz on Saturday, as part of a referee exchange between the two countries’ rugby union federations.
Frenchman Christophe Berdos will referee the Guinness Premiership match between London Irish and Newcastle, also on Saturday.
“It’s not a new thing, even if these exchanges have not taken place for several years,” said Rene Hourquet, head of the French federation’s central committee for referees.
“British countries already have exchanges between themselves. We didn’t want to be involved in that because the RFU wasn’t offering Premiership matches.
“As soon as my English counterpart proposed to include exchanges for matches of the highest level, we accepted,” Hourquet told AFP.
The referee swap, which concerns only international whistle-blowers, continues on January 10 with Englishman Rob Debney overseeing Montauban v Bayonne, and Frenchman Romain Poite refereeing Bath v Wasps.
England’s Chris White has drawn the plum clash between Stade Français and Perpignan at the Stade de France on January 31, with Berdos returning across the Channel for Harlequins against Northampton on the same weekend.
