Under the management of Bernd Gabbei, eight referees from five countries and two performance reviewers are ensuring that the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2009 has the highest refereeing standards.
Former Test referee Gabbei, an IRB Trainer and Referee Educator, is continuing the good work started at the inaugural IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy in Chile a year ago.
"We set three goals for this tournament. Match officials must serve the teams, they must develop individually and go home as better referees and assistant referees and finally, we must leave a legacy with the Kenyan referees," revealed Gabbei.
The refereeing team comprises representatives from Germany, South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Tunisia and Argentina. They have been working hard both on and off the pitch.
"With the Kenyan referees we had two training and education sessions - one on positioning and tackle and the other on sideline management," explained Gabbei.
Maintaining the growth
"Furthermore, each match is analysed by a Performance Reviewer and referees get feedback the next day using video and statistics, we see what needs to be worked on and then we take that into the next training session."
Gabbei has in Tappe Henning and Theuns Naudé two high quality and experienced performance reviewers from the South Africa Rugby Union and the improved performances from referees between day one and two is noticeable.
"We are expecting this growth to continue to the last day," added Gabbei.
The goal for the referees is similar to the players - to go on to referee at IRB Junior World Championship, but more importantly to become better referees and be available for selection in senior competitions around the world.
The team temporarily lost one of its members when Reuben Rossouw had to undergo an operation for appendicitis on Monday. He will rejoin his fellow referees for match day three on Wednesday, but his place on the touchline has been taken by Gregory Sang from Kenya.
