Guess Who’s Refereeing Ireland’s First Test Against Australia?
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Interesting…
Marius van der Westhuizen will take charge of Ireland’s first Test against Australia on June 9.
The South African will be well known on Irish shores at this stage, after he controversially assisted England ahead of their Six Nations clash with Ireland a few weeks back.
Van der Westhuizen was due to be an assistant for that game, but after a backlash over him assisting Jones’ squad, was removed from the game and replaced by Nigel Owens.
A move World Rugby made while taking full responsibility for the ‘oversight’.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt however, publicly backed the South African, before a decision was made to remove him.
“I’m sure in retrospect people are probably thinking it’s not the best thing to do,” Schmidt said before the game
“I know Marius and I would have no hesitation in standing by his integrity. I don’t think it will affect his decision-making and we’ll stand by him as an official on Saturday.”
In the first of a three-match series, Van der Westhuizen will be assisted by Pascal Gauzere and Paul Williams for the Brisbane Test. Williams will then take charge of the second Test, with Gauzere taking up the whistle for the third, as all three officials will be rotating throughout.