IRB announces referees for Lions tour

The International Rugby Board have named the referees for the British & Irish Lions' Test series against South Africa this summer.

Bryce Lawrence of New Zealand will take charge of the first Test in Durban on June 20 while France's Christophe Berdos will take over a week later in Pretoria.

Completing the series will be Stuart Dickinson of Australia for the third Test in Johannesburg on July 4.

The trio will form a neutral Test panel that will also include specialist assistant referee Vinny Munro from New Zealand.

IRB referee manager Paddy O’Brien said: "We met with the Lions and South Africa team management last month.

"All were in favour of the appointment of neutral match officials for the Test series.

"Bryce, Christophe and Stuart are all highly experienced members of the IRB’s high performance referee panel with nearly 80 internationals between them."

Six Nations 2008 Rugby Highlights.

2009 RBS Rugby Union Six Nations Championship

Welcome to the RBS Six Nations Championships, which is Europe’s top Rugby competition. It will take place from Saturday 7th February 2009 and conclude on Saturday 21st March 2009. For rugby fans the Championship warms up the winter months often with some of the most pulsating competitive matches imaginable.
The competing Nations are England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France and Italy. For the last five years the championship has been divided between Wales and France, with Wales being the current Champions who won the Grand Slam in 2008 under new coach Warren Gatland.

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Rugby Six Nations Championship - Records

Major team records Six nations champions:

Most points in a season: 229, England 2001

Most tries in a season: 29, England 2001

Biggest win: 80-23, England v Italy 2001

Most tries in a match: 12, Scotland v Wales 1887

Individual records:

Most tries in a match:

05 - George Lindsay SCO v WAL, 1887

Most conversions in a match:

09 - Jonny Wilkinson ENG v ITA, 2001

Most penalties in a match:

07 - Simon Hodgkinson ENG v WAL, 199107 - Rob Andrew ENG v SCO, 1995

07 - Jonny Wilkinson ENG v FRA, 1999

07 - Neil Jenkins WAL v ITA, 200007 - Gerald Merceron FRA v ITA, 2002

07 - Chris Paterson SCO v WAL, 2007

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Six Nations Rugby Championship - Results

Overall England has the most Home Nations, Five Nations, and Six Nations tournament victories with 25 (excluding 10 shared victories). Next is Wales with 24 (excluding 11 shared). The only country not to have won the competition is Italy, with no wins from its nine tournaments.

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Six Nations Championship - Current venues

The 2008 Rugby 6 Nations matches were held in the following stadiums:


England: Twickenham, London
France: Stade de France, Saint-Denis (near Paris) Ireland: Croke Park, Dublin
Italy: Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Scotland: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Wales: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff


Croke Park is not the normal home of Irish rugby; it is the flagship stadium of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), which until 2005 prohibited its venues from being used for soccer or rugby. Ireland's traditional home, Lansdowne Road, will be unavailable during 2007 or 2008 due to the construction of a completely new stadium on the site of what had become an increasingly run-down structure. The all-Ireland governing body for rugby union, the Irish Rugby Football Union, reached an agreement with the GAA to allow Ireland to play their 6 Nations fixtures at Croke Park in 2007. The agreement will most likely continue until the new Lansdowne Road opens, projected to be in time for the 2010 Six Nations.

Triple Crown Trophy

Despite the history of the Triple Crown there had never been a permanent trophy produced until 2006.
The Trophy is a silver dish measuring 42cm wide and 5cm deep and weighing a hefty three kilos. The Trophy was produced by Hamilton and Inches of Edinburgh and took over four months to make.

Triple Crown history:

• The new Triple Crown Trophy was presented for the first time in 2006
• The Triple Crown has been won 59 times
• The four Home Unions have been competing against each other for 125 years, since the first international between England and Wales in 1882
• The Triple Crown was first won in 1893 when Wales became the first holders of the then mythical trophy

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