The match officials for the much-anticipated opening day of
Women's Rugby World Cup 2010 on Friday at Surrey Sports Park
have been announced, with England's Clare Daniels handed the
honour of refereeing the opening match.
Daniels, who will be officiating at her second Women's
Rugby World Cup after refereeing in Canada four years ago, will
take charge of the Pool C match on Pitch 2 between Canada and
Scotland at 12:00 local time.
The English referee is one of 10 female referees included on
the International Rugby Board panel of 14 officials for the
tournament, and is delighted to have been appointed to referee the
World Cup's opening fixture.
"From a referee's point of view it's a fantastic
honour to blow the whistle on the opener of the Women's World
Cup," said Daniels. "There will be plenty of focus but
I'll be trying to approach it in the same way as any other
international and hopefully deal with the pressures accordingly.
Pinnacle
"To referee in a World Cup is the pinnacle of your
career and obviously with the way the Women's Game has grown,
women's officiating globally has also grown over the last five
or six years as well. So it's a fantastic showcase for us as
officials.
"Hopefully through the fantastic television coverage and
by people coming to the Surrey Sports Park, and seeing women
officiating, it'll encourage more to have a go
themselves."
Javier Mancuso of Argentina will oversee the second match of
the day, as Sevens world champions Australia launch their bid to
become complete a unique World Cup double against Wales in their
Pool A encounter at 14:00 on Pitch 1.
The Pool B opener between USA and Kazakhstan, which kicks off
at 14:15 on Pitch 2, will be refereed by Canada's Sherry
Trumbull, while Scotland's Andrew McMenemy will oversee New
Zealand's first round Pool A fixture against South Africa at
16:15 on Pitch 1.
The Black Ferns are looking to retain their mantle as world
champions, having won the last three Women's Rugby World Cup
titles dating back to 1998, and McMenemy is looking forward to
refereeing such a huge game on the opening day.
Massive experience
"To get appointed to any World Cup is huge and this is
going to be a massive experience for me," said McMenemy.
"I'm really looking forward to the challenges in the games
ahead - it should be a really good three weeks,
"It's a huge game. Defending champions New Zealand
will be out to prove that they are still the number one team in the
world, but I'm sure the South Africans will be equally
determined to try and get one over the Kiwi's and make a
statement on the first day."
New Zealand's Nicky Inwood will take charge the Pool C
tussle between Six Nations runners up France and Sweden, who will
be featuring in their first World Cup since 1998. The match gets
underway at 16:30 on Pitch 2.
The opening day's action is rounded off by host nation
England, who begin their bid for World Cup glory against Six
Nations rivals Ireland at 18:30 on Pitch 1 with Sarah Corrigan of
Australia the referee.
Female finalist?
"I'm really excited," said Corrigan, who took
charge of the Women's Rugby World Cup 2006 semi final between
England and Canada. "The game should be really good.
"The experience of 2006 will definitely stand me in good
stead - I definitely think I've got a good base to work from.
"In 2006 the female officials proved that we could
handle it at that level, and this is a really good opportunity to
take the foundations we laid at that tournament forwards from here,
and hopefully there'll be a female in the final!"
David Keane (Ireland) and Debbie Innes (England) will act as
assistant referees for both Pool C matches on day one, with Kerstin
Ljungdahl (Germany) and Barbara Guastini (Italy) running the line
for the Pool B matches.
Joyce Henry (Canada) and Dana Teagarden (USA) will be the
assistant referees for the Wales v Australia encounter, before
Sébastien Minery (France) and Lee Wing Yi Gabriel (Hong Kong)
fulfil the role for New Zealand's encounter with South Africa.
Bernd Gabbei, the tournament's Referee Manager, has also
selected the officials for the second day of pool action on
Tuesday, 24 August, with Henry refereeing the Wales v South Africa
match on Pitch 2 at 12:00 local time.
Lee will then take charge of Canada v Sweden on the same
pitch at 14:15, before Minery blows the whistle in the Pool B match
between USA and Ireland at 16:30.
Over on Pitch 1, Keane will referee the France v Scotland
match at 14:00 before Teagarden takes charge of the much
anticipated New Zealand v Australia affair at 16:15. The final
match of the day, between England and Kazakhstan at 18:30, will be
refereed by Mancuso.
