Craig Joubert to referee RWC 2011 Final

Craig Joubert will take charge of his first Rugby World Cup Final after the International Rugby Board announced that the South African has been appointed to the New Zealand versus France Rugby World Cup 2011 Final at Eden Park on Sunday, October 23.

Joubert, who took charge of the New Zealand versus Australia semi-final yesterday, becomes only the second South African to take charge of Rugby’s showcase match following two-time Final Referee Andre Watson.

The appointments were made by the IRB's Match Official Selection Committee in Auckland on Monday following a thorough review of performances during the knock out phase.

Joubert will be joined by Rugby World Cup 2007 Final referee Alain Rolland (Ireland) and Nigel Owens (Wales) as Assistant Referees and Giulio De Santis (Italy) as Television Match Official in a highly experienced match official team. Rolland is the reserve referee.

Meanwhile, Wayne Barnes will take charge of the Bronze Final between Australia and Wales at Eden Park on Friday (2030). The Englishman will be supported by Assistant Referees Romain Poite (France) and George Clancy (Ireland) with Shaun Veldsman (South Africa) as Television Match Official.

IRB Referee Manager Paddy O’Brien said: “The IRB Match Official Selection Committee was delighted with Craig and Alain’s performances in the semi-finals. Alain will perform the reserve referee role should he be required. On behalf of the Committee and all of the team I would like to congratulate Craig, Wayne and all the guys on their selection, which is entirely on merit.

Zero tolerance

“We may be nearing the conclusion of what has been a truly superb Rugby World Cup, but our focus remains firmly on consistency, penalising the clear and the obvious and tackling the ‘big five’ areas.

“Collectively we continue to work together as a unit and maintain a zero tolerance attitude towards infringements and foul play across the key areas of the Game. In that regard, I would also like to thank the coaches for their buy-in to the process during this Tournament.”

Pardon my ignorance, but what are the big five areas being referred to?

By the way, I think Joubert will be fine. he is a good ref.

Rolland could have had it again. Had he not been braver than the rest.

Sometimes it goes agin ya. Sometimes - it don't.

Joubert is a great choice. Himself and Rolland stand out. No one else comes near those 2, IMHO.

Kaplan maybe.

It does say something about South Africa's referees.

There has been 3 RWC's since our re admission where SA weren't in the final and in every world cup final where SA didn't feature a South African referee officated.

yep...and ours are all hopeless, including the head honcho Mr I hate Zinzan Brooke and Auckland OBrien himself...

Geez he used to rile the Auks up...

Taylorman wrote:yep...and ours are all hopeless, including the head honcho Mr I hate Zinzan Brooke and Auckland OBrien himself...

Geez he used to rile the Auks up...

The sad thing is, he was a good referee.

Just goes to show being a good referee doesn't necessarily make a good manager.

Really pleased for Craig Joubert, he's been head and shoulders ahead of all the other ref's in this tournament. Good for him

Joubert was very good yesterday, I did think Nigel would have got the centre spot.

Joubert is a good un and plays the advantage rule nearly as well as the fantastic David Bishop.

Well done to Nigel too.

I'm not a Joubert fan but he has done well this RWC and deserves to get the final, not sure what Poite has done to only be a TJ in the bronze medal play off though I'd rate his as one of if not the best.

Taylorman wrote:yep...and ours are all hopeless, including the head honcho Mr I hate Zinzan Brooke and Auckland OBrien himself...

Geez he used to rile the Auks up...

What a coincidence... Right now their doing a live 'This is your life' for Zinzan Brooke

rugbydreamer wrote:Really pleased for Craig Joubert, he's been head and shoulders ahead of all the other ref's in this tournament. Good for him

Yep - he's been excellent and he's got the reward.

rugbydreamer wrote:Really pleased for Craig Joubert, he's been head and shoulders ahead of all the other ref's in this tournament. Good for him

+1

His performance in the 1/4s and the semis was incredible, he is an excellent ref, and I think this will be his 7th game this WC which shows how respected he is, more games than any other ref I believe.

Right now Joubert seems head and shoulders above every other referee, why can't there be more like him?

Because then he'd be average


Good call, he was excellent in the Wales v Ireland match and he communicates well.

Dave Pearson did well I thought.

Yappy, Dave Pearson is a much better referee now than he was a few years ago. It's good to see.

The big five are the leopard, elephant, lion, rhino and water buffalo.

Good to see Joubert in the final. It´s a thankless task so to be generally commented favourably on by the masses is an achievement in itself. He deserves a gold watch.

http://www.irb.com/mm/document/training/matchofficialpnl/02/05/92/48/111016torwc11appointmentsmatrixbronzeandfinal.pdf

Merging this with the existing thread - KRD

Pleased for Craig, he has been consistently outstanding this season. Thought Rolland just edged him in the semi-finals, but Joubert's tournament has been first rate. His effort in the (dire) england-Scotland match is arguably the individual performance of the WC.

Rolland and Joubert confirmed this week-end they are the top officials in the game, well done both of them.