JP Doyle
![]() Doyle in 2016 | |||||||||||||||
Birth name | John Paul Doyle | ||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 3 August 1979 | ||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||||||||||||||
School | Terenure College | ||||||||||||||
University | St Mary's University College, Twickenham | ||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Full time referee | ||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||
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John Paul "JP" Doyle (born 3 August 1979) is an Irish rugby union referee from Dublin, in Leinster. Doyle is one of just six full-time rugby union referees employed by the English Rugby Football Union.[3]
Playing career
John Paul Doyle (most commonly referred to as JP Doyle[4]) was born on 3 August 1979 in Dublin, Ireland,[5] the son of Terry Doyle,[6] former President (2006/7) of the Association of Referees Leinster Branch of the IRFU.[7]
He played scrum-half for Terenure College (school), Terenure College RFC and St Mary's University College, Twickenham[8] where he trained to be a secondary school teacher.[4] He was forced to stop playing due to an injury and surgery on his back in 2002.[4]
Refereeing career
Doyle started his refereeing career with the Association of Referees Leinster Branch of the IRFU[6] in 2001 and joined the London Society of RFU Referees in January 2003. He was promoted to the South East Group later in 2003 and to the National Panel in 2006.[9] He refereed the final of the Daily Mail Under 18 Schools Cup at Twickenham Stadium in 2007[10] and the EDF Energy National Trophy Final in 2008.[11]
He was appointed as a trainee full-time official on 1 September 2008.[9] In May 2010, the Elite Referee Unit (ERU) of the RFU confirmed his full-time contract after successfully completing a two-year trainee programme that had seen him referee in the Premiership, the IRB Sevens circuit, the Churchill Cup and Pacific Rim Rugby Championship tournaments.[12]
He officiated at the 2009 IRB Nations Cup,[13] the 2010, 2011 and 2012 IRB Junior World Championship, and the 2010–12 European Nations Cup First Division.
He has regularly refereed matches in the RFU Championship, Premiership and the LV= Cup including important Final matches.
Doyle refereed his first European Challenge Cup match in the 2007–08 season on 18 January 2008 when he officiated at Dax verses Calvisano pool game.[1] His first Heineken Cup game followed in the 2010–11 season on 17 October 2010 (the pool game between Perpignan and Benetton Treviso).[1]
On 27 May 2014, it was announced that Doyle would referee the 2014 Aviva Premiership final, his first as referee.[14]
On 25 September 2015, Doyle refereed the 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool C match between Argentina and Georgia.[2]
Doyle refereed the opening match of the 2016 Six Nations Championship (between France and Italy).[15]
Notes
- ^ a b c d "JP Doyle". Profile on EPCR. European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ a b Chris Bertram (25 September 2015). "Rugby World Cup 2015: Argentina 54-9 Georgia". BBC. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- ^ "Refs' Chief Blows Whistle On Crisis". www.express.co.uk. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ a b c "JWRC referee: JP Doyle". SARU Referees. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "JP Doyle". Profile on Premiership Rugby. Premiership. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Go Whistle" (PDF). www.arlb.ie. August 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Referees". Terenure RFC. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "October Training Meeting". Essex Society of RFU Referees. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Elite Referee Appointments". www.rugbynetwork.net. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Warwick joys means Barnard Castle heartbreak". Rugby Football Union. 28 March 2007. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Two-try Saints secure the double". Northampton Saints. 12 April 2008. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Morrison strengthens elite referee pathway". Rugby Football Union. 28 May 2010. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "IRB Nations Cup – the referees". International Rugby Board. 19 June 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ http://www.premiershiprugby.com/matchcentre/fixtures/31832.php#.U4UHkig8D9s premiershiprugby.com - Aviva Premiership Final Preview: Saracens v Northampton Saints
- ^ https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/rugby-union/35172167
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Use dmy dates from January 2013
- Irish rugby union referees
- Living people
- 1979 births
- Rugby union players from County Dublin
- Irish rugby union players
- Terenure College RFC players
- Irish expatriate sportspeople in England
- Rugby World Cup referees
- Premiership Rugby referees
- European Rugby Champions Cup referees
- European Rugby Challenge Cup referees
- Six Nations Championship referees