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Major League Rugby match officials will have a new Director for the 2024 campaign. A collaboration with USA Rugby sees former Irish referee manager David Wilkinson appointed to the lead role, with a secondary role on community development for domestic officials.
Wilkinson hails from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, and was formerly a professional referee in the Pro 14 and European Challenge Cup. He also has experience as an Assistant Referee in Tier 1 test rugby. The 41-year-old succeeds Jonathan Kaplan as MLR’s referee manager, the South African stepping away after three years in charge with help from Australia’s Chris Pollock.
There will be further Irish influence assisting Wilkinson with David McHugh and Alain Rolland agreeing to act as referee coaches. Both McHugh and Rolland refereed at three World Cups, with Rolland notably taking charge of the 2007 tournament final. The latter has also previously been employed as World Rugby’s match official manager.
Former All Blacks scrum guru Mike Cron will return to help officials make sense of the set piece, and MLR’s most experienced official Scott Green begins his transition to a mentor role by taking up a position as Referee Development Officer. Rosalind Anderson is the group’s Administrative Manager.
A senior USA Rugby panel has also been named for the upcoming season. All nine were part of the 2023 officiating crew though Amelia Luciano is yet to make her full referee debut in MLR. Along with Green, the other USAR referees returning are Marquise Goodwin, Kahlil Harrison, Cisco Lopez, Kat Roche, Luke Rogan, Derek Summers, and Lex Weiner.
MLR has also revealed the new referee kits for the upcoming season, as seen below:
