André Jacobus Watson (born 24 April 1958) is a South African former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

referee. He officiated a record number of finals in the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

(two), the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...

(seven) and

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

(five).

Biography

Watson was born in

Germiston Germiston, also known as kwaDukathole, is a small city in the East Rand region of Gauteng, South Africa, administratively forming part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality since the latter's establishment in 2000. It functions as ...

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

and attended school at Maria van Riebeeck Primary and Goudrif High School. He later attended

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

before working as an engineer.

Playing career

As a youth Watson played representative rugby for Transvaal Schools XV. While studying at university he played for Stellenbosch University and the University of the Witwatersrand.

Refereeing career

He took up refereeing in 1987, becoming a full-time referee in 1995.

Provincial rugby

During his career he refereed 100

matches including seven cup finals which, as of 2010, is the most by a referee. Watson refereed five

finals which is, as of 2011, a record.

International rugby

He made his international debut in 1996 in a match between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Watson refereed the first of two

finals when he took charge of the

1999 Rugby World Cup Final The 1999 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match in the 1999 Rugby World Cup. It was played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on 6 November 1999, between and with 72,500 in attendance. Australia won the game by 35 points to 12, an ...

between Australia and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in Cardiff. His second World Cup final was the

2003 Rugby World Cup Final The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was the final match of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup competition organised by the International Rugby Board (IRB) for national rugby union teams. The match was played at Stadium A ...

between Australia and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in Sydney. He remains the only referee to have officiated in two finals. He announced his retirement prior to the July 2004 match between Australia and the

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...

. He made a comeback three months later, refereeing the first match of the qualification round for

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

between Andorra and Norway.

Post-refereeing career

He was appointed as the Manager of Referees for the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board a ...

in 2011. On 3 July 2015, SARU announced that his employment has been terminated after the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration decided that a number of grievances lodged against Watson proved to be valid.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Andre Living people 1958 births South African rugby union referees Stellenbosch University alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni People from Germiston Rugby World Cup referees Currie Cup referees Super Rugby referees South African rugby union players The Rugby Championship referees Six Nations Championship referees