 | |||||||||||
| Birth name | Alexandre Ruiz | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 March 1987 | ||||||||||
| Place of birth | Béziers, France | ||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Alexandre Ruiz (born 24 March 1987) is a professional rugby union referee who represents the French Rugby Federation. He is a regular appointment at Top 14 and has recently joined the top level of European Rugby.
Ruiz started officiating in 2006 at the age of 19 and quickly went through the ranks in France. [1] By 2010 he was a referee at Rugby Pro D2 level, the second tier of club rugby in France, before earning assistant referee roles at Top 14 level in 2011. In March 2012, Ruiz made his World Sevens Series debut, debuting during the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens. He remained on the panel for the rest of that season and became a regular appointment from the 2012–13 season onward.
In January 2013, Ruiz made his Top 14 debut, taking charge of Stade Montois's home game against Toulouse. That same year, he was selected to officiate in the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Russia. [2] In late 2013, he made his European debut, refereeing Mogliano against Bath in the 2013–14 European Challenge Cup. In January 2014, Ruiz became the first French referee to officiate a Pro12 match, taking charge of the Italian derby between Zebre and Benetton Treviso.
Ruiz first international match came on 22 February 2014, between Georgia and Russia during the 2012–14 European Nations Cup First Division. In June 2014, Ruiz was selected for the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship in New Zealand, which included three appointments; Ireland v Fiji, New Zealand v South Africa and the Bronze Final between Ireland and New Zealand. [3]
In November 2014, Ruiz was appointed to three test matches as assistant referee, including two Tier 1 v Tier 1 internationals. June 2015 saw Ruiz get his first semi-final in the Top 14 - Clermont against Toulouse. This was backed up by being part of the 2015 World Rugby Nations Cup referee panel in June and the 2015 World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup panel in July. This included the 5th Place play-off match between rivals United States and Canada.
In January 2016, Ruiz refereed his first Champions Cup match, taking charge of Benetton Treviso's home game against Munster during the 2015–16 European Rugby Champions Cup. A couple weeks later, Ruiz had his first Six Nations Championship appointment, acting as assistant referee to Romain Poite for England vs Ireland. During the 2016 Hong Kong Sevens in April 2016, Ruiz refereed his 100th World Series match.
In June 2016, he refereed his first test match that included a Tier 1 nation, taking charge of Canada's home clash against Italy on 26 June. After that test, he went on to referee at the 2016 Olympic games in Brazil, [4] which included an appointment to the Bronze medal game between Japan and South Africa.
Ruiz refereed in South Africa where he refereed two Currie Cup games during September 2016. [5]
The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019-2020 season, following the Italian federation's decision to name Peroni as the official partner of the Top10 competition.
Steve Walsh is a retired professional rugby union referee from New Zealand. He officiated at international level from 1998 to 2014, and at three Rugby World Cups, including refereeing the semi-final between South Africa and Argentina in 2007. Walsh became the most experienced Super Rugby referee in 2014, passing Jonathan Kaplan's record before retiring from the game in 2015.
Denis Dallan is an Italian rugby union footballer. His usual position is on the wing. He plays for the Italian club Amatori Milan. Dallan has been capped for the national team and was a part of its squad at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Nigel Owens, is a Welsh international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He currently holds the world record for the most test matches refereed and is one of five international referees listed as professional within the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans, Adam Jones, Dan Jones, and Ben Whitehouse.
Wayne Barnes is an English international rugby union referee and barrister. He is a regular referee in the English Premiership, and has refereed games in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. At international level, Barnes has refereed matches at the Rugby World Cup, the Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and the Pacific Nations Cup competitions.
Craig Paul Joubert is a South African professional rugby union referee and a Referee Talent Development Coach at World Rugby.
Malcolm Changleng is a Scottish former professional rugby union referee. He is the identical twin brother of fellow referee David Changleng.
Jérôme Garcès is a French rugby union referee who regularly officiates high-profile club matches in tournaments such as Pro14, Top 14 and the Heineken Cup.
John Paul "JP" Doyle is an Irish rugby union referee. Doyle was one of ten full-time rugby union referees employed by the English Rugby Football Union until his redundancy in August 2020.
Chris Pollock is a former rugby union referee who represented the New Zealand Rugby Union. In 2008, he was part of the IRB's touch judge panel. He made his international referee debut in 2005, when he refereed Niue vs Tahiti, while his first IRB appointment was in 2006, taking charge of Hong Kong vs Japan.
John Lacey is a former Ireland A and Ireland Sevens rugby union international and current rugby union referee. As a player, Lacey spent most of career with Shannon in the All-Ireland League. He also represented Munster. As an international referee he has taken charge of matches in the Six Nations Championship, the Rugby Championship and the Rugby World Cup. He also refereed the 2013 Pro12 Grand Final and the 2015–16 and 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup finals.
Mathieu Raynal is a professional rugby union referee who represents the French Rugby Federation. He officiates at the highest level in the Top 14, European club rugby, and is on the World Rugby referee panel.
Marius van der Westhuizen is a South African rugby union referee, currently on the Premier Panel of the South African Rugby Referees' Association.
Ben Whitehouse is a Welsh rugby union referee. He is currently one of five professional referees at the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans, Adam Jones, Dan Jones and [nigel Owens)
Shuhei Kubo is a Japanese rugby union referee, who is an A class referee in the Japan Rugby Football Union.
Ben O'Keeffe is a rugby union referee from New Zealand. He currently referees at domestic, Super Rugby and test match level.
Luke Pearce is a Welsh rugby union referee representing the Rugby Football Union. He is a regular referee in the English Premiership and has refereed games at European level and at the 2019 Rugby World Cup
Matthew Carley is an English rugby union referee representing the Rugby Football Union. He is a regular referee in the English Premiership and has refereed games at European level.
Andrew Brace is a former rugby union player born. Brace rugby union referee currently represents the Irish Rugby Football Union. Brace has refereed matches in the Pro14, the European Rugby Challenge Cup and the European Rugby Champions Cup. In 2017 he began refereeing test matches.
Joy Neville is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and a current rugby union referee. As a player Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ireland team to defeat France. In 2013 she was also a member of the first Ireland women's team to win the Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown titles.