The International Rugby Board has announced the Match Official appointments for the Test matches that will be played during November and December.
The selection was made by the IRB’s Match Official Selection Committee at its meeting in Dublin on Wednesday following a comprehensive review of international referee performances over the past six months.
Ireland’s Alan Lewis will kick off a busy period of international Rugby when Australia and New Zealand meet in Hong Kong in the ‘fourth Bledisloe Test’ on November 1. The Rugby World Cup 2007 referee is joined by fellow countryman Peter Fitzgibbon, who will make his Test debut when he takes charge of the first of two Tests between Japan and the USA in Nagoya on November 16. Fitzgibbon, who refereed the IRB Junior World Championship final earlier this year, will also referee the second Test in Tokyo on November 22.
The appointments also include Australia versus the Barbarians in London on December 3. England’s Chris White will take charge of the fixture, which will be the first Rugby match to be played in the new Wembley Stadium.
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"The IRB has panels of 17 international referees, 23 assistant referees and seven dedicated television match officials operating across all Tier 1 Test matches. It is from these specialist panels that the appointments from the November Tests were made," explained IRB Referee Manager Paddy O'Brien.
The match official appointments for the 2009 RBS Six Nations will be announced after the completion of the November Tests when performances will again be reviewed," added O'Brien.
