Legendary referee has reportedly been made redundant - Ruck

Legendary referee has reportedly been made redundant

Veteran referee JP Doyle is the latest casualty of the RFU’s financial cuts, according to The Times.

The 41-year-old, who reportedly learned his fate last week, had been officiating in the Premiership since 2006 as well as on the international stage, including the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The report claims the RFU are facing losses of up to £107m and are expected to let a total 139 employees go this week.

Doyle was one of the 10 full-time referees on the RFU’s elite list, who were all informed last week of a pending round of redundancy and that all of their jobs were at risk.

The Irishman, who was one of the higher paid officials, was then informed a few days later that he was to be made redundant.

DID YOU KNOW? He played scrum-half for Terenure College (school), Terenure College RFC and St Mary’s University College, Twickenham where he trained to be a secondary school teacher


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LIST: Rugby’s 5 Most Controversial Refereeing Decisions

1. Speargate on the Lions Tour

The first game of the Lions tour of New Zealand was swept into controversy following a horrific spear tackle on Captain Brian O’Driscoll, which ended his tour within minutes. The tackle, with O’Driscoll picked up by two players in the ruck, was against the rules, but the ref waved play on.

The moment caused a major knock-on effect in World Rugby, tightening up restrictions on spear tackling.

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