Morrison Back in the Saddle
Ed Morrison, one of rugby's great referees and England's former refereeing boss, is back. PRO12 Rugby has appointed him as a refereeing consultant.
His six-year tenure in charge of English refereeing came to an abrupt end in September 2013 when he seemingly objected to attempts outside of refereeing, orchestrated by the Professional Game Board, a venture between Premier Rugby and the England's Rugby Football Union and left refereeing as a result. Now he is back.
Morrison has been charged primarily with overseeing the appointment of match officials to the PRO12 but also working closely with the referee managers of the four PRO12 Unions (Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy) and the European referee manager, Donal Courtney.
Morrison brings a wealth of refereeing experience and good, balanced sense to the position. Apart from his pleasing personality he is a vastly experienced referee after a career that went from starting tin 1981 to 2000 when he retired. He refereed 41 major Tests, including the career highlight of the 1995 World Cup Final at Ellis Park when the Springboks and Nelson Mandela wowed the world.
After retirement he was involved in referee development till 2008 when he became the development manager of England's elite referees.
Commenting on the appointment Ed Crozier, PRO12 board member, said: "We are delighted to welcome Ed Morrison as an independent referee commissioner. PRO12 Rugby is continually trying to improve the standard of officiating and this appointment is showing a commitment to fulfil that objective. Our competition is unique in that it involves 12 teams in 4 countries with neutral officials from all 4 national rugby unions involved. Ed Morrison will assist in independently selecting the match officials and so greatly help the referee managers of the 4 Unions involved.
"The profile of the PRO12 keeps on increasing and this additional support of officiating recognises the invaluable contribution of our match officials to the tournament."
