Jadezweni named on World Rugby U20 Championship referee panel

Mar 31 • BabyBoks U20, General News, International, Junior Rugby, World Rugby Junior Championship • 1499 Views • Comments Off on Jadezweni named on World Rugby U20 Championship referee panel

South African referee Cwengile Jadezweni continued his rapid rise as a top-class match official on Thursday when he was named on the World Rugby U20 Championship referee panel for the tournament to be hosted in Manchester, England, from 7 to 25 June.

Jadezweni was named on South Africa’s Elite Referee panel for the first time this season after a series of consistently impressive performances last season, which culminated in him taking charge of the Provincial Under-21 final between DHL Western Province and the Toyota Free State in October 2015.

He has since made appearances as an assistant referee in four of the opening five rounds of the Vodacom Super Rugby competition – the last of which was this past weekend in the clash between the Cell C Sharks and Crusaders in Durban.

Jadezweni will join eight other top referees at the tournament, namely Graham Cooper (ARU), Craig Maxwell Keys (RFU), Juan Sylvestre (UAR), Elia Rizzo (FIR), Thomas Charabas (FFR), Paul Williams (NZRU), Andrew Brace (IRFU) and Craig Evans (WRU).

“We’re very proud of ‘JD’ and his achievements in the last couple of seasons,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.

“He is an extremely dedicated and hard-working referee and this is just reward for a number of very good performances in the middle. The World Rugby Under-20 Championship is a springboard for upcoming referees and I’m sure he’ll be in the Test selection frame soon.”

Meanwhile, the Junior Springboks have been drawn in Pool C with France, Argentina and Japan for the international showpiece.

Coach Dawie Theron’s team, who finished third in the 2015 tournament in Italy, will kick off their campaign against Japan on 7 June at the Academy Stadium, before taking on Argentina on 11 June at the AJ Bell Stadium, and France on 15 June back at the Academy Stadium.

The South Africans defeated France 31-18 in the bronze playoff last year to secure their third-place finish in the tournament.

Defending champions New Zealand will meet Georgia, Ireland and Wales in the round-robin stages, while 2015 runners-up England will go up against Australia, Scotland and Italy.

The semi-finals will be contested on Monday, 20 June, while the last round of matches, which includes with the eagerly-anticipated final, will be played on Saturday, 25 June.

The Junior Springboks’ preparation for the tournament will begin this week in Cape Town where a large group of 56 hopefuls will gather on Tuesday evening to attend a training camp, which will be followed by trials at the City Park Stadium in Crawford on Friday.

Junior Springboks pool fixtures, World Rugby U20 Championship (SA Time):

Tuesday, 7 June: 16h15 – South Africa vs Japan (Academy Stadium)

Saturday, 11 June: 19h00 – South Africa vs Argentina (AJ Bell Stadium)

Wednesday, 15 June: 20h45 – South Africa vs France (Academy Stadium)