WRU ANNOUNCE PLANS TO HALT REFEREE ABUSE

WRU Manager of Match Officials Rob Yeman will be joined by former World Cup final referee Derek Bevan at a special press conference to be held in the WREX Suite, Millennium Stadium on Wednesday, 12 January to launch a campaign to tackle the rising problem of abuse of match officials.

Also present will be WRU General Manager Steve Lewis, professional referees Hugh Watkins and Nigel Owens and president of the Welsh Society of Referees Tony Lynch.

The initiative comes at a time when there is growing concern within rugby in Wales, and around the world, regarding abuse of match officials. This has a crippling effect on the recruitment and retention of referees and therefore the game of rugby in Wales.