Advantage Over podcast – Episode 9 – Referee development with Jamie McGregor

Today, it's a solo episode with Keith talking through the law changes that came into force on 1 July 2026, following World Rugby's Council meeting in June. While there's a lot to cover, the bottom line is that there isn't much that changes for us as referees. Only two pretty-rare ingoal restarts change from 22DOs to TLDOs for consistency reasons - but as you'll hear, there's a lot of other bits and pieces to be aware of: Move of four older GLobal Law Trials into full law Introduction of a lower legal tackle height for the community game as law for all (choice for Unions of sternum or waist) Minor law wording tweaks for consistency, clarity or to remove confusion or conflicting clauses Law application guideline covering the Maul

Today, we're joined by Holly Wood, Rugby World Cup 2025 match official and referee across the men's and women's leagues here in England. This weekend (28 June 2026), she will referee the PWR Final between Saracens Women and Trailfinders Women - just 10 weeks or so post-partum. In this episode, recorded just days before baby #2 joined the world, we chat about her elite performance background, her route into refereeing, her first pregnancy journey and the legacy from that process for other female referees around the country. We also chat about an initiative she has spearheaded attracting new referees from the elite female playing community. Resources mentioned: RFU Match Official Maternity guidance High Performance Referee Scholarship with PWR

Andrew Rowland, previously chair of Rugby Southland Referees joins me to talk about two initiatives they are running in the furthest south peninsula of New Zealand. Firstly their Referees of the Future Scholarship initiative - a new way of attracting young (and not so young....) people into refereeing. We look at what's behind it, what's the 'offer' and how it's going so far. There's some more info here on their 2026 scholarship awardees. And then Andrew and I talked about their Chaplaincy offer for their match officials in the province. We talk about what it is, what it's not, and how it's helped him and his fellow referees. If the word chaplaincy sends you down a certain thought route (as it did for me), then worth listening to what it actually is. For more about refereeing in Southland, head here. If you have any comments about this episode, or suggestions for future shows, then drop me a line at [email protected]! You can follow us here: Twitter: RugbyRefereenet Instagram: RugbyRefereenet Facebook: Page: RugbyReferee.net Facebook Group: RugbyReferee.net Community Or you can connect with Keith personally on Twitter or LinkedIn

Today, we're joined by Hollie Davidson in a different type of interview - different because the questions weren't asked by Keith. This is the audio of a longer interview conducted by Laura-Jane Jones for TNT Sport in November last year, but made available with other media outlets. It's full of gold! If you missed the last episode with Tarsh Ganley, then you can listen here Areas covered in today's episode: Off-field Hollie -How having non-rugby hobbies is so important The switch from women's to men's Being the only female in men's camp Knowing what a red card feels like - and learning from those feelings Her team around her - growing together and those who went before Her lead up to the Wales v NZ in November The benefit of being a female in the men's space Referees being in the room around rugby conversations at World Rugby level Player turned referee Trolls and how it feels to be a ref under the microscope Her future - after refereeing, but also the near future with RWC 2027 on the horizon

Today, I'm joined by Natarsha Ganley from New Zealand to chat about her rise from newbie to Rugby World Cup referee. We chat about her starting story, her new day job, her referee career to date, overcoming injury at a crucial point in the selection cycle, and her RWC experiences. We also chat about what's next, including how she's heading north for three months in 2026 to gain refereeing experience in England's PWR league. If you have any comments about this episode, or suggestions for future shows, then drop me a line at [email protected]! You can follow us here: Instagram: RugbyRefereenet Facebook: Page: RugbyReferee.net Facebook Group: RugbyReferee.net Community Or you can connect with Keith personally on Twitter or LinkedIn