Will Houston (born 25 May 1988) is an Australian professional rugby union referee. He was appointed to the referees panel for Super Rugby in 2016.[1]
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| Birth name | William Houston | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 25 May 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Houston took up rugby refereeing as a high school student at Shore in Sydney, and continued refereeing at senior club level while studying law at the University of New South Wales. After graduating in 2011, he was a first grade referee in the Shute Shield competition, including an appointment as an assistant referee for the 2012 grand final. Houston officiated in Super Rugby as an assistant referee in 2012.[2]
In 2013, he went to the Sanix World Youth Tournament in Japan,[3] where he refereed the final between Saint Kentigern and Hartpury College.[2] Houston also officiated at the Darwin Hottest Sevens tournament. He refereed the final of the inaugural World Club 10s in Singapore in 2014,[3] where the Auckland Blues defeated the ACT Brumbies after double extra time to win the title.[4]
For Australia's National Rugby Championship, Houston was appointed to semi-final matches in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and was appointed to the final in 2017.[5][6] He refereed the final of the 2015 World Rugby U20s and later that year refereed in New Zealand's ITM Cup. He was in charge of the Shute Shield grand finals in 2015 and 2016.[3] Houston joined the Super Rugby referees panel in 2016.[1] His debut match was on 19 March 2016 in Christchurch, with the Crusaders playing the Southern Kings.
References
edit- ^ a b "Refs and law variations revealed" (Press release). SANZAR. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ a b "Will Houston". Australian Rugby. Archived from the original on 25 January 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ a b c "William Houston". Linked in. 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ "ACT Brumbies fall short in Singapore world club 10s final after double extra time". Sydney Morning Herald. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ Goodin, Elise (25 October 2014). "Buildcorp NRC – Semi-Final: Melbourne Rising v Perth Spirit". RugbyWA. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
- ^ Steve Lenthall (23 October 2015). "Vikings see off the Rising". Green and Gold Rugby. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.