John Leslie Gill

The Society is very saddened to hear of the death of John Leslie Gill on Sunday at the Lancaster Royal Infirmary. John was an accomplished Society referee assessor and on his retirement he was made an honorary associate member. He had a long association with Vale of Lune RUFC, firstly as a player and subsequently as ... More

RFU Community Game & Covid-19 Update – 16th October

16th October:  Latest Community Game Update   From the RFU.  Clink on the link for the whole update. Content: 1. Viewing the Quilter Internationals 2020, part of the Autumn Nations Cup 2. Show your club shirt at Twickenham 3. Changes to RFU Regulations 4. Response to World Rugby Transgender Guidence 5. Guidance ... More

GOOD NEWS STORY – Elliott Lewis becomes a Panel Referee

Manchester & District Rugby Union Referees’ Society Ltd. Founded 1902 www.madrefs.co.uk President: Clive Ennis Esq - Chairman: Roger Bowden Esq - GOOD NEWS STORY - Elliott Lewis becomes a Panel Referee Whilst we are all under the cloud of Coronavirus and the return to rugby is stalling, it is cheering to be ... More

Message from the Society Chairman and RFRU Reminder to Societies.

Message from Roger Bowden, Chairman M&DRURS “The RFU and the RFRU have noted that there has been a significant uptake of inter-Club Ready4Rugby activity.  Much of this activity involves Society Referees.  Referees are being advised to exercise their common sense in terms of accepting invitations to ... More

September 4th : What’s Happening about DBS for MadRefs Referees and Match Officials

Further to the recent email regarding the society's position on refereeing at present, please note the following on Age Grade Matches Refereeing U18 and DBS We must remind you all that if you are invited to referee any Age Grade game ie U18 you must be DBS checked. If you need a DBS check then we suggest that you ... More

Return To Rugby – The Society’s Position

Manchester & District Rugby Union Referees’ Society Ltd. Founded 1902 www.madrefs.co.uk 1st September 2020   Return to Rugby – The Society’s Position                    Regular readers of the Society website (which, of course, means all of us) will be aware of the RFU Return to ... More

Maintaining Focus No. 4 – Considered responses now availble

The "considered responses" for "No.4 - Other Arriving Players at a Tackle" are now published in the usual online format and in a document that can be downloaded. In the online version the questions are listed below the relevant World Rugby video clips; clicking on the questions will reveal the "considered responses". ... More

Your Development and the Preferred Options Papers

Andy McMillan, Chairman of Training & Development, introduced the thinking behind the Society’s “Preferred Options” (PO) papers at the pre-season meetings in August. The idea of the papers is to help referees and assessors work towards taking a more consistent approach and to continually improve the refereeing ... More

Match Officials Who Attend Age Grade Coaching Sessions

From: Steve Bradford RFRU Safeguarding Manager Sent: 21 July 2020 19:40Subject: Match Officials Coaching at Age Grade Rugby Companions, I have received the following clarification from RFU Safeguarding Team in respect of Match Officials who attend Age Grade coaching sessions Society’s should ensure that a ... More

Summary of RFU courses which include refereeing for season 20/21

Manchester & District Referees' Society Ltd Summary of RFU courses which include refereeing for season 20/21. We are currently at Stage B of the ‘Return to Road Map: Community Game’’. Face to Face coaching and refereeing courses will probably only come in at Stage E or F. Kids First. There is a new ... More