Joël Jutge (born 5 April 1966 in

Lavaur, Tarn Lavaur (; oc, La Vaur) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. History Lavaur was taken in 1211 by Simon de Montfort during the wars of the Albigenses, a monument marking the site where Dame Giraude de Laurac (Lady of Lavaur ...

) is a former French international

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 it ...

referee. He made his international refereeing debut in a 2000 match between

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. Jutge decided to be a referee in 1991 after his playing career was brought to an end by a knee ligament injury. He played for French club

US Colomiers Union sportive Colomiers Rugby or US Colomiers is a French rugby union club currently competing in Pro D2, the second level of the French rugby pyramid. They had been relegated from Pro D2 after finishing last in the 2006-07 season, but earned ...

as a scrum-half, and later moved to

Cahors Cahors (; oc, Caors ) is a commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitanie Region. The main city of the Lot department and the historical center of the Que ...

before becoming a referee. He is now a referee manager. He controlled many notable matches, and officiated his first Six Nations Championship match in 2002, between

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and subsequently the Heineken Cup final between Leicester Tigers and Munster. He was 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 ...

in Australia and was appointed as one for the 2007 Rugby World Cup in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

also. However, since the 2007 World Cup, he suffered a chronic knee injury and had to withdraw from refereeing the Calcutta Cup match in 2009. On 16 June 2009 it was announced that Jutge had retired from refereeing. On August 3, 2012, Jutge was announced as Paddy O'Brien's successor to the position of IRB High Performance Match Official Manager. He will begin on September 3, 2012.

References

External links

Joël Jutge
on rwc2003.irb.com * 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Lot (department) French rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves French rugby union referees Rugby World Cup referees European Rugby Champions Cup referees Six Nations Championship referees The Rugby Championship referees {{France-rugbyunion-bio-stub