International Rugby Referee on Campus

Having been part of the Exeter College Rugby Daily Mail winning squad in 2005 and a member of Exeter Saracens Rugby Club, Luke Pearce has progressed from his early playing career to a full time national and international referee. Career highlights to date include the European Rugby Champions and Heineken Cups as well as international appointments in Japan and Madagascar.

Focusing on building a good relationship with a referee and the importance of establishing and maintaining game values, the workshop involved video footage and discussion around a number of player and referees behaviours in a variety of scenarios. The importance of 2 way communication and how players take on board messages were some of the key learning points, with HPP athletes having the opportunity to look at some good and bad examples of this at Premiership level.

With the emphasis on the core values (teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline, sportsmanship) of rugby from the RFU, giving HPP athletes the opportunity to explore some of these values within this workshop was important for ensuring  that culture and environment within University of Exeter Rugby Union.

Jo Yapp, Head of Women’s Rugby Union at University of Exeter commented “It was fantastic to have Luke Pearce deliver to our HPP athletes. Having someone with that experience and knowledge of refereeing at national and international level, sharing their experiences is something that the players will have really benefitted from”.

Rugby Union is one of the 9 focus sports at the University of Exeter and part of our High Performance Programme. Our women’s Rugby Union 1^st team play in BUCS Premier South, with a number of our Sports Scholars also representing Bristol Ladies in the Tyrell’s Premier 15s league. The Men’s Rugby Union 1^st team play in BUCS Super Rugby, with a number of Sports Scholars involved with Exeter Chiefs Academy.