Cape Town - A team of 25 match officials from 15 nations has been announced for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 which commences in Glendale, Colorado on October 5-6.
According to the World Rugby website, this season is set to be the biggest on record with the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series increasing to eight rounds for the first time in history.
The men’s series will once again be contested across 10 rounds, kicking off in Dubai on December 5-7, 2019, with six of those events being combined with women’s tournaments.
The 2020 season will culminate with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which will see sevens make its second appearance on the Olympic Games programme following its successful introduction at Rio 2016.
Former Canada international Julianne Zussman joins the women’s series panel this season and will make her match officiating world series debut in the opening tournament in Glendale, Colorado.
Zussman represented her country in both XVs and sevens formats of the game, earning 44 Test caps and featuring in three Rugby World Cups throughout her playing career.
Zussman joins an experienced panel of referees who have impressed on the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series over a number of seasons.
The men’s panel features 12 officials who have featured on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for the last three seasons with the addition of Uruguay’s Francisco Gonzalez who officiated in the Americas Rugby Championship in February this year.
Women’s Sevens Series panel:
Sara Cox (England)
Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
Emily Hsieh (USA)
Lauren Jenner (New Zealand)
Adam Jones (Wales)
Sakurako Kawasaki (Japan)
Tyler Miller (Australia)
Ashleigh Murray (South Africa)
Joy Neville (Ireland)
Amy Perrett (Australia)
Madeline Putz (Australia)
Tevita Rokoverneni (Fiji)
Julianne Zussman (Canada)
Men’s Sevens Series panel:
James Doleman (New Zealand)
Paulo Duarte (Portugal)
Craig Evans (Wales)
Francisco Gonzalez (Uruguay)
Sam Grove White (Scotland)
Richard Haughton (England)
Richard Kelly (New Zealand)
Damon Murphy (Australia)
Matt Rodden (Hong Kong)
Jeremy Rozier (France)
Damian Schneider (Argentina)
Jordan Way (Australia)