No referee,
no match
That is not a figure of speech. It is the regulation, and it costs this club fixtures. Three hours online and €20 fixes it.
- 01
The Referee Area Coordinator appoints a referee, if one is available.
- 02
If the coordinator cannot, the home team asks the away team for a qualified referee — Full, Trial, Community or Affiliate.
- 03
If the away team cannot provide one, the home team must appoint one.
“If the home team fail to provide a referee, then they forfeit the fixture.”Leinster Rugby Youth Competition Regulations
The same regulations say it plainly: “Every team should strive to have an Affiliate referee that can step in to referee a match in the event that there is no appointed referee or the appointed referee failed to show up.”
What it does for the club
One qualified name on the sheet is the difference between a game played and a game handed over before kick-off.
Every age group from U13 up plays league and cup rugby that needs a referee. When the coordinator cannot cover it, we can.
Nobody understands the breakdown like somebody who has had to adjudicate it. Refereeing teaches the laws in a way playing never does, and it comes straight back to the pitch.
One reassurance before anybody talks themselves out of it: affiliate referees cannot issue yellow cards; however, they can issue red. You are not being asked to police a senior cup tie on your first afternoon.
Affiliate Referee
Qualified to referee matches involving your own club where no Branch referee is available — which is exactly the gap that costs us fixtures.
About three hours, online, at your own pace · €20
- 01Buy the course on the IRFU store
Affiliate Referee Course 26/27, on the IRFU’s own education platform. Nothing to book and no evening to keep free.
Minutes - 02Work through it whenever suits
Video, tutorials and knowledge checks covering the breakdown, scrum, lineout and maul. You can stop and come back.
About 3 hours - 03Tell the club you have it
So your name goes on the list the coaches check when a Saturday has no referee appointed. That is the whole point of doing it.
One message
The accreditation lasts two years.
Leinster Trainee Referee Programme
The full pathway: you join Leinster Rugby Referees, are appointed to matches across the province, and are coached and assessed as you go.
Two modules to start, then weekly games and coaching · Free to apply
- 01Register your interest
One email to the Referee Development Manager. There is no form and no closing date — he will talk you through it and put you on the next intake.
One email - 02Welcome to Refereeing
An evening module online, ninety minutes, covering what the job actually is before you commit to anything.
1.5 hours, online - 03Ready to Referee
A Saturday in person at Westmanstown, and you finish it holding a trial pass.
Half a day - 04Referee, and be coached
Trial member first, with weekly appointments and assessment, then the Level 1 and 2 panels. How far it goes is up to you — the pathway runs all the way to the All-Ireland League and beyond it.
A season and on
The September 2026 intake ran its modules on the 2nd and 5th. Register interest now and you are on the next one.
Who to ask
- Joining the trainee programmeSeán Gallagher
IRFU Referee Development Manager
- sean.gallagher@irfu.ie
- Anything else about refereeing in LeinsterHayley Whyte
Leinster Rugby
- hayley.whyte@leinsterrugby.ie
01 223 5107
Courses, dates and the regulation quoted above were checked against the IRFU Education Store, Leinster Rugby Referees and the Leinster Rugby Youth Competition Regulations on 5 September 2026. Dates move — every link goes to the live listing.
Somebody has to blow it
You do not need to have played. You do not need to be fast. You need to know the laws and be willing to stand over a decision, and the course teaches the first part.