Ulster School's Cup Final 2018

refereeing right up to the pinnacle which is refereeing in the World Cup. And the fact that after a playing career he was refereeing right into his early 50s is pretty impressive. At the moment, in terms of current referees I have great respect for Wayne Barnes. I think he is one of the best referees in the world. He’s an excellent communicator and I think he has real empathy and a lack of arrogance in his refereeing style which is very admirable. What was your favourite match that you officiated? Last season Rugby School over in England hosted an International Schools’ Sevens Tournament and they had invited rugby schools from all over the world to participate in it. Obviously, Rugby School is the birth place of rugby. I was fortunate enough to referee the Final of the Sevens Tournament on the pitch where rugby was created so that stands out as a real highlight for me. Most memorable refereeing experience? It’s brilliant being involved in big games. I’ve run the line for Europe and in Champions Cup and those are always special nights just the way they are for supporters they are special as well for officials. There is always that extra buzz around the place as there is clearly more on the line. Being involved in any of those big games is a pretty class. Looking back to your very first refereeing experience - what advice would you give your younger self about refereeing? Stick at it and keep trying to get better. Even on days where you think and both teams probably think that you weren’t that great, take the learning away from those days and then move on to the next match. Don’t get bogged down in just one match and stay focused on improvement. You were named Ulster Rugby Referee of the year in 2017 – how did that achievement make you feel? It was an honour to be recognised but it’s very much an accumulation of the work and

dedication of a lot of people who have helped me to become a referee. I teach and coach rugby in Banbridge Academy. Both the rugby coaches and the Principle have been very accommodating and supportive of my refereeing which has been a great encouragement. I was very honoured to get that award, it was pretty humbling. With reference to refereeing – what are your ambitions for the rest of 2018? Next month I’ll be refereeing France Universities against England Universities over in the South of France so I’m really looking forward to that. I suppose I’ve refereed up to the highest level in Ireland domestically and I’ve refereed in the British and Irish Cup so I want to see if I can push on to referee either at international underage level or possibly even to referee professional teams.

REFEREE PROFILE: JONNY ERSKINE

www.danskebankschoolscup.com

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