Peter D'Rohan Hoffmann (born 14 January 1972) is an Australian-Portuguese

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 and former international player for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. He played as a fly-half and a fullback. One of the best Portuguese players of his generation, he earned nicknames like ''Zé Rohan'' and ''Mister Canguru''.

Early life

Born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, he studied at the Marist College, in Ashgrove, the same rugby school of John Eales. After Ashgrove he played for

Brothers Old Boys Brothers Rugby Club (formally Brothers Old Boys) is an Australian rugby union club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The name alludes to its beginnings as a rugby club founded by alumni of schools established by the Congregation of Christian Brothe ...

in Brisbane and for Queensland Schools, Queensland U-19 and Queensland U-21. He was in his second season with Brothers 1st XV when he received the invitation to move to

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 ...

Career

Hoffmann played for

London Scottish F.C. London Scottish Football Club is a rugby union club in England. The club is a member of both the Rugby Football Union and the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is currently playing in the RFU Championship. The club share the Athletic Ground wi ...

in the English Premiership for the season of 1992/93. In August 1993, Scottish coach Andrew Cushing who accumulated functions with head coach of

, invited him to move to

to play a season at Técnico. He remained in the Lisbon team from 1993/94 to 1997/98, where the club won the Portuguese Championship and the Cup of Portugal in 1993/94. He then moved back to England to play for the professional team of Worcester Warriors, but he wasn't successful, breaking a leg twice. He decided to return to Portugal, this time to play for

Grupo Desportivo Direito Grupo Desportivo Direito is a Portuguese 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 ...

, in Lisbon. He won the Portuguese Championship and the Cup of Portugal for the season of 2001/02, and also the Iberian Cup of 2002. After becoming a Portuguese naturalized citizen, he decided to represent Portugal. He won 27 caps, from the 64-3 loss to

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 re ...

, at 2 March 1996, in Lisbon, for the FIRA Championship, D1, Pool 2, to the 34-21 loss to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, at 2 June 2002, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, for 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 ...

qualifyings. He was one of the top scorers for Portugal during his international career, scoring 7 tries, 2 conversions, 8 penalties and 1 drop goal, 77 points in aggregate. The high point of his international career was at 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 ...

qualification, when he scored a 90 meters try against Scotland XV in the 85-11 loss at Murrayfield, at 28 November 1998, in a game where he also scored a drop goal. Portugal lost to Spain by 21-17 at 1 December 1998, meaning they would have to go to the repechage with

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Portugal lost both repechage games but it was still their best result at the time.

Coaching and refereeing

He started to coach at a young level while still playing, being Técnico U-18 head coach. He also started an international referee career, first at a youth level, in 2002, and at the senior level, in 2006. His first international match took place in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

, at 11 October 2008, between

and

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

. He returned to

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 in December 2012 was named as part of the 18-man referee team for Super Rugby 2013.Super Rugby 18 Man Referee Team
/ref> His debut was on 1 March 2013 when the Waratahs played the

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 ...

References

External links

Rohan Hoffmann Biography (English)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Rohan 1972 births Australian rugby union coaches Australian rugby union players Australian rugby union referees Australian emigrants to Portugal Brothers Old Boys players Worcester Warriors players Living people Portuguese rugby union coaches Portuguese rugby union players Portuguese rugby union referees Portuguese people of Australian descent Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Super Rugby referees ARU referees Portugal international rugby union players Rugby union players from Brisbane People educated at Marist College Ashgrove Australian expatriate rugby union players in England