Ashleigh Murray, a female rugby referee

ASHLEIGH Murray (22) is without a doubt one of the top woman referees in the country and is respected by her peers and players from all levels, male and female.

She is a proud resident of Glenvista and is strongly connected to the Alberton Rugby Club where she trains twice a week with a few other local referees.

The Alberton RECORD recently spoke to her about her career and refereeing in general:

AR: Where did the interest in rugby, and more specifically refereeing, come from?

AM: I grew interested in rugby while still at school, I attended the live games at Ellis Park with my dad. Although I enjoyed watching the rugby I didn’t understand it because I didn’t know the laws. My dad jokingly suggested I try refereeing to help learn about the game, I then started the next year and have never looked back.

AR: How long have you been a referee?

AM: I started refereeing in February 2011.

AR: What qualifications have you attained since starting your career?

AM: I had to complete the candidate course when I first started, since then I have attained World Rugby Officiating Level 1 & 2.

AR: How often do you train?

AM: I attend classes at the gym every morning from Monday to Friday, these consist of High-intensity interval training (HIIT) as well as weight training. I run 5km twice a week at night, and do field training at Alberton Rugby Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays where we do speed and agility training, which is sport specific to rugby. Every Sunday I run fitness tests to help prepare for the national testing for the South African Regularity Rally Association (Sarra).

AR: What is the most difficult and rewarding part of what you do?

AM: The most difficult part of what I do is not being too hard on myself. I have learned to accept that I am human, therefore I will make mistakes, however, it is how I learn from them and thus they are important.

The most rewarding part of what I do is seeing the players perform to their best ability and achieve what they set out to do, this can only happen if I change player behaviour. By doing this the players understand what the laws expect of them and how I am going to apply them, this creates a flowing game, which gives them the freedom to play as they wish.

AR: It must be difficult to referee a game where every player, coach and spectator is a budding referee. How do you handle the pressure from on the field and the sideline?

AM: People are very emotional while watching as well as playing rugby. Whether their team is winning or losing they will have their own opinion on how an incident should have played out. I have learned to be confident in myself and my knowledge of the game, therefore I will not question myself while on the field because of spectators and players. It came with time and experience to block out the spectators’ and players’ opinions, the only pressure that I have is what I put on myself.

AR: Can you remember the first game you ever refereed?

AM: I refereed my first game between St John’s and Jeppe u/16 C’s. I was on the field for about 5 minutes before my coach pulled me off. The only thing that I blew for was a knock-on.

AR: What was the biggest game you’ve ever officiated at?

AM: The biggest game I’ve officiated nationally was last year, the final of the Women’s Inter-Provincial Division A tournament between Western Province and Border. I was also privileged enough to get chosen by Sarra to attend the Invitational 7’s tournament in Dubai last December. I refereed games in all the leagues in this tournament, the biggest games I refereed there were the International Invitational Women’s Trophy Final, the International Invitational and, the u-19 boys Trophy Finals where I was lucky enough to have two South African sides.

AR: What was the most difficult game you ever officiated at?

AM: The most difficult game I have officiated is the inter-provincial women’s final. This is because it was such a competitive game. Border was leading the whole game with the score being 15-10 after the siren had gone. They made a bad decision by throwing the ball out intentionally resulting in a penalty to Western Province. WP eventually scored a try to make the score even with the conversion winning the game for them. This game asked a lot of me mentally as I had to work the hardest towards the end of the game to try and prevent the teams from infringing.

AR: Who is your role model in your career?

AM: Nigel Owens has been my role model for years. When on the field he demands respect from the players while still being empathetic towards them. He is also one of the oldest referees on World Rugby’s panel but is still the best in the world. In 2013 I was also his assistant in the test match between the All Blacks and Springboks.

AR: When not involved in the game, what do you do during your spare time?

AM: I am currently studying draughting, which I do during the week. Since rugby takes up a lot of my weekends, in my spare time I am with my family and friends enjoying the rest.

IN THE THICK OF THINGS: Ashleigh Murray keeping an eye on the game.

Murray has been named as one of six referees to officiate at the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series Qualifier in Hong Kong on April 6 and 7.

The referee panel for the tournament comprises of talented referees who are not members of the official World Rugby panels.

Murray has progressed steadily through the domestic women’s referee ranks in the last few years, where she has been named on the SA Rugby women’s panel since 2014.

Her growing list of achievements includes taking charge of the SA Rugby Women’s Interprovincial final between Border and Western Province last season and the Women’s Interprovincial B Section final in 2016. She also officiated at the u-15 Carfind.co.za Iqhawe Week in Johannesburg last year.

“We are very proud of Ashleigh,” said SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux.

“The Women’s World Series Qualifier is a significant tournament, as the winner will earn a spot as a core team in the 2018/19 Women’s Sevens Series circuit, so we wish her luck.

“Ashleigh is a dedicated referee with a fantastic work ethic and great ambition, and this could be the start of great things to come in future.”

Roux added: “We pride ourselves on our referee structures in South Africa, and to have two women, Aimee Barrett-Theron and Ashleigh, making their presence felt in international tournaments shows that we are on the right track. They are certainly an inspiration for all young women looking to take up the whistle.”

*Story (edited) and photos supplied by Wayne Raath.

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