The Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees’ have decided to bring down the best of the best from New Zealand Rugby and the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union to educate and train referees from the Island.
The three member educator and Referee panel, namely Sam Fellows (Educator and Lead Referee), Sam Thompson (Referee), Sean Curragh (Referee) arrives in Sri Lanka hoping to provide vital knowledge to referees in the Island as Dinka Peiris and his Exco continues their work in referee development.
The program is led by Sri Lankan, currently residing in New Zealand, Krishan Ambawatte.
This comes at a great time for referees in the Island, just prior to the beginning of the Club Rugby Season for 2024/ 25.
Sam Fellows, Level-2 Referee, is a former member of the Auckland Rugby Union, Waikato Rugby Union & Southern California Rugby Union (USA) has 21-years of referee experience under his belt.
His notable achievements would be refereeing the Bay of Plenty Premier Final, working on a National level at Heartland and Farah Pamer Cup Games and Referee at the Coral Cost 7s in Fiji to name a few. In addition to his referee experience, he also boasts of 10-years’ experience as a coach.
Sam Thompson, was a member of the Poverty Bay, Manawatu, Horowhenua/Kapiti and if currently affiliated with the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union.
He too possess over 18-years of refereeing experience and was also Ranked no.1 in the Horowhenua-Kāpiti Rugby Union from 2018 to 2023. He also has officiated in 3x Premier finals and 2x Hurricane Zone College Boys Finals to name a few.
Sean Curragh from the Bay of Plenty Union comes in with 7-years of experience and has refereed the Bay of Plenty Premier Development Final, has attended the World School Festival in Thailand in 2023 and has been an AR for National NPC games.
All 3 of the referees will no doubt bring a wealth of experience to Sri Lanka as they hope to impart knowledge and referee a few games on their tour in the Island.
