David McHugh
Encyclopedia
David McHugh is an international Rugby Union
Test
referee. Born in Limerick
, Ireland
, McHugh has refereed matches at the 1995
, 1999
and 2003 Rugby World Cup
s, as well as refereeing the finals of the 1996
and 2001
Heineken Cup
. He officiated at his first international game was in 1994.
McHugh hit the headlines in August 2002 when a drunk South African fan, Pieter Van Zyl, ran onto the pitch and assaulted him during the Tri Nations match between South Africa and New Zealand in Durban
. McHugh was left with a dislocated shoulder and had to be carried off on a stretcher. van Zyl was convicted of trespassing and assault, and was sentenced to three months in jail, fined R3000, and banned from attending all rugby matches in South Africa for life. Having twice come on as a replacement referee in 2001, he is the only referee ever to have both replaced another referee and have been replaced during a Test match. He is a committee member of the rugby sevens
club, Shamrock Warriors RFC
.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
Test
Test match (rugby union)
Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....
referee. Born in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, McHugh has refereed matches at the 1995
1995 Rugby World Cup
The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country....
, 1999
1999 Rugby World Cup
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
and 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
s, as well as refereeing the finals of the 1996
1996 Heineken Cup Final
The 1996 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 1995–96 Heineken Cup, the inaugural season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 6 January 1996 at the Arms Park in Cardiff. The match was contested by Cardiff RFC of Wales and Toulouse of France...
and 2001
2001 Heineken Cup Final
The 2001 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2000–01 Heineken Cup, the sixth season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 19 May 2001 at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The match was contested by Stade Français of France and Leicester Tigers of England...
Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
. He officiated at his first international game was in 1994.
McHugh hit the headlines in August 2002 when a drunk South African fan, Pieter Van Zyl, ran onto the pitch and assaulted him during the Tri Nations match between South Africa and New Zealand in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
. McHugh was left with a dislocated shoulder and had to be carried off on a stretcher. van Zyl was convicted of trespassing and assault, and was sentenced to three months in jail, fined R3000, and banned from attending all rugby matches in South Africa for life. Having twice come on as a replacement referee in 2001, he is the only referee ever to have both replaced another referee and have been replaced during a Test match. He is a committee member of the rugby sevens
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
club, Shamrock Warriors RFC
Shamrock Warriors RFC
Shamrock Warriors RFC is a Rugby sevens club founded in 2009 by former Leinster out-half Fergal Campion. They are the only 7's club in Ireland endorsed by the Irish Rugby Football Union and will represent Ireland as the only official Irish 7's team competing at the top level tournaments in...
.