Chris White (born 16 July 1963) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

international rugby

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. He is one of England's top rugby referees and has refereed at three

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 ...

s. He started refereeing at 17 years of age and joined the Gloucester Referees Society in 1990. White was one of 16 referees appointed to the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He was also again selected as a referee at the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

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 ...

. He refereed the semi-final of this competition between New Zealand and Australia. He was subsequently in charge of the 2005 Grand Slam decider between Wales and Ireland. During a

2007 Six Nations The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen mat ...

match between Italy and Wales, White ended the game after Wales, believing they had time to score a match winning try, kicked for touch from a penalty. White later apologised for the misunderstanding. White was selected for the

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 ...

in France, his third World Cup. White retired from test match rugby in 2010, refereeing 50 test matches in total. He has also taken charge of three

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

Finals, refereeing the 2002/03, 2004/05 and 2005/06 finals. In total, White refereed 53 Heineken Cup matches, as well as 9 in the

Amlin Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

. White took on the role of RFU National Referee Academy manager in September 2010, performing this role whilst continuing to referee in the Aviva Premiership. White's 190th and final Aviva Premiership game was on September 24 between Worcester and Harlequins. His final match before retirement took place on December 3, 2011, when he refereed the Help4Heroes Rugby Challenge between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. White retired after this game to take up his role as National Referee Academy manager on a full-time basis.

References

External links

Chris White
on wrc2003.irb.com
Chris White
on ERCrugby.com

IRB.com * ttps://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/focus/2004/03/chris_white.shtml The life of rugby referee Chris WhiteBBC.co.uk
Six Nations Headlines
BBC Sport News {{DEFAULTSORT:White, Chris 1967 births Living people English rugby union referees Rugby World Cup referees Six Nations Championship referees European Rugby Champions Cup EPCR Challenge Cup referees Premiership Rugby referees The Rugby Championship referees