Young ends great ref career
Last season
After a great career as an international referee, Scott Young of Australia has decided to end his refereeing career at the end of the current domestic season in Australia.
Young's retirement follows soon after the retirements of two other Australian refereeing greats – Peter Marshall and Andrew Cole.
Tall, friendly Young is well known right round the rugby world after a career that started in 1987 and included 26 Tests and 49 Super rugby matches.
Young was born in New South Wales, but the family moved to Queensland early on and he is a dedicated Queenslander, educated at Toowoomba Grammar School and the University of Queensland where he majored in Economics and Commerce, and it is his business interest that now demands more attention than being a globetrotting referee allows.
Young will focus most of his attention on developing his corporate training business, Corp 31, a management consultant company which focuses on financial education, leadership and the like.
Young's international career began in 1994 when he refereed a World Cup qualifier between Japan and Chinese Taipei in Kuala Lumpur. His last Test also involved Japan – Japan vs Italy in Tokyo in June.
In between he refereed many if the world's top matches, including Tri-Nations and Six Nations matches. In fact his career would have been even more illustrious had it not been for injury. He missed the 2003 Rugby World Cup, for example, when he was injured during the pre-tournament fitness tests, a savage blow.
Speaking on his career Young said: “I've been around the world dozens of times, I've had a lot of fun and I've had to deal with some interesting characters on and off the field, but it’s time to concentrate on other aspects of my life.”
He rates the Ireland v France match in Dublin 2001, and the Tri-Nations clash between New Zealand and South Africa in Cape Town 2001 as his most memorable matches.
He said professional courtesy prevented him from nominating the singularly most challenging on-field “adversary”, though he did say: “Let’s just say there were some wonderful sledges. I suspect I'm one of very few people who have been abused in a number of different languages!”
In terms of the most volatile game he refereed, Young says the 2001 grudge match between the Waratahs and the British Lions at the Sydney Football Stadium stood well above the other 100 odd-first class representative fixtures.
“There was intense media pressure going into the game, given the Lions intimidatory tactics and reputation they'd developed during their previous visit to Australia (in 1989).
“It was on from the kick off. The first sin bin offence occurred after 10 seconds, and it went down hill from there. At one stage it like a game of Rugby League – 13 players v 12. But you learn more from those experiences, far more than you do from matches without any hostility. Let’s just say it was character building. ”
At 41 Young is young and fit enough to have quite a few matches left in the tank and he is not finished with rugby or refereeing. He has been commentating on local rugby and is planning to stay involved with refereeing, as a coach and career advisor to up and coming referees.
Scott McGilvery Young was born on Armidale, New South Wales, on 4 July 1965. He started refereeing in 1987 and was a project a manager with AMP before becoming a full-time referee.
