Workshop for NZ national referees
New Zealand’s national referee squad is meeting this weekend as preparations continue for the Air New Zealand Cup and AA Rewards Heartland Championship.
New Zealand Rugby Union High Performance Referee Manager Keith Lawrence said the three-day workshop at King’s College, Auckland, was an opportunity for the referees to get together and start focussing on the domestic competitions.
NZRU High Performance Referee Coach Colin Hawke has pulled together a programme that will challenge the referees, both physically and mentally. Sessions will be delivered by several specialists in their field, including leading Australian sports psychologist Dr Ilan Kogus and former Blues assistant coach Joe Schmidt.
The 20-strong New Zealand Rugby Union 2007-08 national referee squad which will officiate in this year’s domestic competitions is:
*Lyndon Bray (Wellington), Keith Brown (Southland), *Kelvin Deaker (Hawke’s Bay), *Paul Honiss (Waikato), *Bryce Lawrence (Bay of Plenty), Kane McBride (Canterbury), Shane McDermott (Southland), James McPhail (Canterbury), Vinny Munro (Canterbury), Brent Murray (Wellington), Josh Noonan (Canterbury), Chris Pollock (Wellington), Todd Pullar (Otago), Chris Rooney (Manawatu), Ben Skeen (Auckland), Matthew Stanish (Auckland), *Steve Walsh (North Harbour), Jonathon White (Auckland), Garratt Williamson (Wellington) and Gary Wise (Hawke’s Bay).
* = World Cup participants
The NZRU Referee Selectors Glenn Wahlstrom and Peter Boyden have also picked an associate national referee squad who will cover for the five national squad referees selected for the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
The national referee squad associate referees are: Sheldon Eden-Whaitiri (Auckland), Mike Fraser (Wellington), Andrew Hall and Matthew Muir (Canterbury) and Glenn Newman (North Harbour).
