Get to know the ref – Eoghan Cross

Eoghan Cross is an Irish rugby union referee holding a position as a member of the Irish Rugby Football Union's (IRFU) High Performance Referee Panel. He has been refereeing since 2016. The experts at ACME Whistles were able to grab an exclusive interview with Eoghan to get to know the referee behind the whistle.

Name: Eoghan Cross

Age: 33

Height: 6ft 1”

What do you do to keep fit? Refereeing, because you look at the speed of the game and there's no excuse for not being fit, so it's just a matter of being as fit for the game you're refereeing and maintaining those standards so you’re giving the game what it needs. It’s the job that most certainly keeps me fit.

Where do you live? Limerick, on the West Coast of Ireland

What’s your first memory of rugby? It was going into my local club, Young Munster RFC, and being ball boy for the matches and this was when club rugby in Ireland was massive and I can remember Paul O'Connell playing for Young Munster regularly.

And being in there as a young fellow, just watching the crowds and watching the rugby and what it meant, massively instilled the love of rugby into me.

How many years have you refereed? This is my 10^th year

Can you remember your first game as a referee? I absolutely can, yeah. Under 13s game of rugby, local club game, had no proper gear, had a plastic whistle, which obviously ACME Whistles would be absolutely shocked to hear. But yeah, that was the first game I can remember, and stayed with me, but yeah, it's just mad when you think about where you started.

Can you remember your first International game? Yes, I can indeed. It was a rugby Europe game and it was between Holland and Spain during COVID which made the whole thing even weirder.

The match was a very enjoyable game but they're tough games to referee. The teams are very physical and they go at it, so they're tough but enjoyable games. But then afterwards there was a 5 pm curfew, so the only option for the post-match meal was that a local referee took us to his own house for dinner. And I suppose that's the key thing about refereeing, is that rugby's a small community globally and refereeing is an even smaller community.

But everywhere I've gone, there's been people I know and people that I regularly reach out to whenever I go back there. Everyone's very accommodating and welcoming. There’re people that will come meet you, that will take you out when you're away. If people are visiting, you can take them out, bring them for coffee because it's not easy being away from home all the time and rugby is a great family community and refereeing within that is a really good community too where there's great support and you make some great friendships. No matter what part of the world it is, you know someone you can reach out to.

What’s your favourite stadium? I think for atmosphere I’d say Murrayfield. The last few minutes of The Calcutta Cup there this year were very loud with it being a win at home.

Who is your sporting hero? Roy Keane. I’m a die-hard united supporter and I'm Irish, so he ticks the boxes. I like his temperament, I suppose, and his leadership. You have to admire it.

What’s your whistle of choice? ACME Thunderer 58.5

What’s been the biggest moment in your career so far? I suppose I'd go back to the South Africa v Japan Autumn International game last November at Wembley as being probably the biggest moment. But there’s been a few other ones, you know, like going to the Junior World Cup was a proud moment - it's like a rite of passage almost.

Refereeing the opening game and the relegation game, which are massive appointments has been big and making my Champions Cup debut last year as well was a very proud moment again, something you work hard towards, and when you finally get the nod, it's pleasing, and a great competition to be a part of.

Who inspired you to take up the whistle? It kind of came from myself, I knew I wanted to do it.

I had refereed other sports before because when I was in school, there was this big indoor soccer competition and that year there was a request that a non-staff member to referee the match so I ended up refereeing it. That just got me into it and I (surprisingly) enjoyed it.

Then chatting to Andy Brace and Peter Fitzgibbon who was one of the people running the new trial member referee courses was a huge influence. He was a really helpful person for the early few years of my career that just kept me going and kept me inspired and wanting to push on.

If you had to pick one area the game that’s the hardest to referee what would that be? Without a doubt, the maul. It's just messy

It’s hard enough when you've got an assistant referee and a referee on either side trying to ref it, but when you're on your own it’s almost impossible.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen on a rugby pitch? I went to referee my first top division domestic game in the All-Ireland League, Division 1A, and I arrived up to the pitch, which was about a four-hour drive, and one of the goalposts had been blown down by a storm.
So I was scrambling going, what do I do here? But luckily I was told that the game could be moved to a different pitch. It was definitely strange to arrive and the goalposts were blown down.

Who is the best player you’ve ever refereed? Cheslin Kolbe because he’s so fast, like I have to start running before he even gets the ball, because if I don't, I'll be a long way behind.

Who’s the toughest player you’ve ever refereed? Alun Wyn-Jones He was tough in terms of how he played, and then you know, if he was challenging you, he would be doing it in the right way.

If you were to take three things to a desert island, what would they be? My dog would definitely be one; my iPad and I would bring a set of dumbbells for training.

Who would be your dream dinner party guests? Roy Keane, Muhammad Ali and from a rugby point of view, Richie McCaw was my idol so I’d like to bring Richie as well for a good chat.

What would you like to achieve outside of rugby? I don't want to be cheesy but I’d just like to be happy, really, you know and be successful in what I'm doing.

I never went to college, I never got an education, so I'm really enjoying what I do and success is, being able to look after everything, being able to provide for myself and my partner and the dog. I'm very much an under-thinker so I don’t think about the future too much. I just want to keep enjoying what I do and keep doing that for as long as I can.

If you could pick any two teams to referee, who would they be? I'd love to referee New Zealand in South Africa for the challenge of the game, and I think if you're being put into those games and you can come through it, you've pretty much nailed it.

For more information on refereeing and to get started, visit www.acmewhistles.co.uk