James Jones will referee the final between South Arfica and New Zealand
21 APRIL 2007
By Jeremy Inson
Throughout the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2007 it was not only the teams who were fighting hard to reach the final, but also the 14 referees and five touch judges that make up the officials at the tournament.
Welshman James Jones is the referee given the honour of controlling the IRB Under 19 World Championship 2007 final between South Africa and New Zealand at Ravenhill, and he is in no doubt where the appointment ranks in his career.
“When I found out it was huge, an exciting point in my refereeing career and a massive achievement. At the moment it is the highlight of my career and a proud moment,” he said.
However, Jones realises that there was an element of good fortune in him being appointed to take charge of the final.
“Obviously with South Africa and New Zealand being in the final the New Zealand referee Matt Stanish and the South African Philip Bosch can’t be in the final.
“Australian Julian Pritchard would have been a front runner, but he got injured early in the tournament, so you take your luck and ride it. Obviously I made a good impression in the first game and have gone on from there.”
Ireland v Australia referee
It will not be the first time that Jones has taken charge of a match in front of a large Ravenhill crowd though, after he refereed Ireland’s opening match against defending champions Australia and the Welshman feels that he thrives in the high pressure games.
“The Ireland v Australia opening game in front of a packed Ravenhill crowd was something that I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately for Ireland they lost narrowly, but it was a close game and one I enjoyed refereeing.”
As a proud Welshman though, the Wales v New Zealand semi final presented Jones with a conundrum over who to support as he realised that a Wales win would end his hopes of refereeing the final.
“It was a rollercoaster of mixed emotions. I rang the coaching team to wish them all the best for the semi final and slipped in the sly gesture to ask them not to ruin my chances of getting to the final by beating New Zealand,” he said.
Welsh delight
Nonetheless the Swansea-based official, who will be assisted by touch judges Neil Paterson and David Wilkinson, would have been delighted had Wales made it to the final.
“Had they progressed to the final I would have been over the moon, as the rest of the country would have been. But we will wish them all the best for the third place playoff.”
Amongst the 19 officials in Belfast there are 15 different nationalities represented and Jones has learned from and been impressed with the performances of all of them.
“There are a lot of good guys in the refereeing team across the board, both those who have stepped up from Division B into Division A and those who are from the developing rugby nations. I think everybody has performed well and developed throughout the tournament.”
At the moment it is the highlight of my career and a proud moment. Obviously I made a good impression in my first game and gone on from there.
Division A final referee James Jones
Refereeing development
Also aiding the officials’ development has been IRB Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien and his team of refereeing assessors.
“They have been an excellent support. It is a case of there is nowhere to hide with the technology that surrounds us, but I think what Paddy has done is drive forward the message of letting the game run.”
While Jones is delighted to be taking charge of the final, he also knows that it is a big boost to his future refereeing career.
“The next step is to get on the touch judge panel at full IRB level. That was my main aim coming here. Obviously you want to do the latter stages, semi finals, final, but my main aim was to be seen by the IRB selectors and hopefully get onto the touch judge panel.”
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