John Lacey - a ref on his way to the top

[Exiled in D4]

I had the pleasure of watching Johnny Lacey ref the Suttonians Clonakilty game at the weekend. He was very impressive and is still young enough to have a professional career as a ref. He seemed more than capable of doing so. Indeed, Loosehead, the Clon PRO has the following to say:

@@@@SPAN style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-GB">"It is rare indeed to
find both clubs expressing satisfaction with the officials but on this occasion
all lauded the performance of referee, John Lacey. His unobtrusive control of
the game in general was excellent and in particular his handling of the
incident that forced the retirement of Lombard may well have contributed to the
fact that happily the big centre is no worse for the experience"@@@@/SPAN>

It's good to see another former Munster player stay involved in the game and wish him a good and successful career as a referee.

[bruffian]

think he holds the record for tries scored in the AIL.


fine player.surprised he didnt get more of a go with munster,although he did play heineken cup,and won numerous AIL titles with shannon.a couple of which were back when the AIL was where all the big players played

[sparks]

He was a dev officer bruffian, think thats the reason behind lack of Munster....I wonder when he will ref a shannon game, if thats possible?

[Clubman]

I'm glad to hear a positive report. Had heard one quite to the contrary also. I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

[socks]

I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

i remember david mchugh reffing cork con games about 5 years ago and he's a con man i believe. don't think he was too popular with the con team/support either - especially after one encounter against clontarf.

[bobbin]

yep hes a v good ref, played a game he reffed earlier in season.





Another promising ref is Eddie Hogan O Connell, used play for College and D well. Seems that having played the game to a good level is a good startinig point

[Tony Soprano]

I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

i remember david mchugh reffing cork con games about 5 years ago and he's a con man i believe. don't think he was too popular with the con team/support either - especially after one encounter against clontarf.

I was at that game - F@@kin hell he was a disgrace. A vain, vain man.

[TheRedHurricane]

As a YPO he is being fast tracked through the reffing system. He does the coaching courses around Tipp/Limerick. But its suprising he is referring at such a high level since he only stopped playing last season. From playing with a J1 club last year to refeffing J1 matches is a bit odd. But appears to be quite a capable ref.

[peatbog]

think he holds the record for tries scored in the AIL.


fine player.surprised he didnt get more of a go with munster,although he did play heineken cup,and won numerous AIL titles with shannon.a couple of which were back when the AIL was where all the big players played

Joined Shannon for the last of the four-in-a-row. A few of the boys in the munster squad at the time say he talked himself off the squad. he wasn't a YDO at the time, was a rep for Shreelawn Oil, and was always moaning about how much driving he had done before training etc etc. So Kidney decided not to pick him anymore. Very unfortunate cos i've never seen player to run like him with ball....A lot of players at a higher level could've done worse than watch his lines of running.

[peatbog]

I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

i remember david mchugh reffing cork con games about 5 years ago and he's a con man i believe. don't think he was too popular with the con team/support either - especially after one encounter against clontarf.

I was at that game - F@@kin hell he was a disgrace. A vain, vain man.

If ever a fella let publicity go to his head twas him......

[Corker]

I'm glad to hear a positive report. Had heard one quite to the contrary also. I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

He's officially a Clanwilliam man now rather than a Shannon man

[peatbog]

I'm glad to hear a positive report. Had heard one quite to the contrary also. I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

He's officially a Clanwilliam man now rather than a Shannon man

Won't be allowed to ref Shannon or Clanwilliammatches though. Funnily enough i think he'll be allowed to ref De Well though. McHugh may have been a Con man but wasn't Douglas the club he represented as a ref?

[General Collins]

yep hes a v good ref, played a game he reffed earlier in season.





Another promising ref is Eddie Hogan O Connell, used play for College and D well. Seems that having played the game to a good level is a good startinig point

Unfortunately he never played with College - went straight to the Well after school. Retired from an ankle and knee problem and his refffing career has certainly taken off.


Both he and Lacey are making huge strides and they are both being spoken of very highly wihin the referees association.

[bobbin]

never knew that GC thought he played at college


Did McHugh represent Douglas or the Collig??





peatbog, loook at clanwilliams decline this season, no small part to Laceys retirement id say..he was doing absolute wreck at Junior level even thouigh he had lot of miles on the clock. very helpful guy who spoke to our coaches after he played us once and gave them a few pointers where he thought we could impriove..nice touch

[lahinch_lass]

Noticed Lacey reffing in one of the AIL matches covered on Against the Head a few weeks ago. Hadn't realised he'd started reffing. From the little I saw on the match clips shown he looked like a ref that likes to let the game flow as much as possible.


Also noticed his normal tag rugby team isn't on the list of entries for Old Crescent this summer. I guess it's possible he'll be playing in Garryowen instead.


As for his club allegiance.. he was originally a clanwilliam player, himself & quinny played together there at least from what I know.

[Speedy]

Doing a very good job at the moment, Newcastle v
Montauban. Not the easiest gig in the work, looks like its
freezing there.

[Humpty Dumpty]

He is a good ref.

[Combatlogo]

I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

i remember david mchugh reffing cork con games about 5 years ago and he's a con man i believe. don't think he was too popular with the con team/support either - especially after one encounter against clontarf.

I was at that game - F@@kin hell he was a disgrace. A vain, vain man.

A small encounter I had with him not so long ago would bear that assessment out.

[Red Hand Hero]

I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

i remember david mchugh reffing cork con games about 5 years ago and he's a con man i believe. don't think he was too popular with the con team/support either - especially after one encounter against clontarf.

I was at that game - F@@kin hell he was a disgrace. A vain, vain man.

A small encounter I had with him not so long ago would bear that assessment out.

Do tell CL...

[tickettout]

I don't think they ever allow a ref do a game for his own club Sparky.

i remember david mchugh reffing cork con games about 5 years ago and he's a con man i believe. don't think he was too popular with the con team/support either - especially after one encounter against clontarf.

I was at that game - F@@kin hell he was a disgrace. A vain, vain man.

A small encounter I had with him not so long ago would bear that assessment out.

Do tell CL...

CL has all the class of a cheese burger and would fight with his nails if they looked at him twice.

[The Better Half]

Doing a very good job at the moment, Newcastle v
Montauban. Not the easiest gig in the work, looks like its
freezing there.

Agreed. He reffed it very well. [img]smileys/thumb-up.gif[/img]


Would have been evenbetter if he had used the cupla focail in French though.I'm sure he will in time - it's not that difficultto learn the25 or so key wordsthat are required.

[Stan Guilfoyle]

Didnt see the game but just read some of the comments on the Bet fair forum and they weren't that complimentary about him. Now some of them were probably talking through their pockets but I dont think they will be recommending him for bigger things.

[Cotter9]

Lacey's a good ref for the amount of experience he has had.
Also a top class rugby guy. Played with and against him one year and he came down to take a backs session with us out of his own time after we played Clan.

Very impresssive.

[lahinch_lass]

From the digging I did on the ERC site I think he's the ref with the most HEC games played of the players that have turned to reffing. He's still getting challenge cup matches, and did a decent job on the one match at that level I saw him reffing last season.

[Charco]

Doing a very good job at the moment, Newcastle v
Montauban. Not the easiest gig in the work, looks like its
freezing there.

Agreed. He reffed it very well. [img]smileys/thumb-up.gif[/img]


Would have been evenbetter if he had used the cupla focail in French though.I'm sure he will in time - it's not that difficultto learn the25 or so key wordsthat are required.

Can ya imagine the French lads tryin to understand him through that accent though [img]smileys/biggrin.gif[/img]


He did do well last night. Not a great game to watch

[The Spoofer]

Doing a very good job at the moment, Newcastle v
Montauban. Not the easiest gig in the work, looks like its
freezing there.

Agreed. He reffed it very well. [img]smileys/thumb-up.gif[/img]


Would have been evenbetter if he had used the cupla focail in French though.I'm sure he will in time - it's not that difficultto learn the25 or so key wordsthat are required.

Can ya imagine the French lads tryin to understand him through that accent though [img]smileys/biggrin.gif[/img]


He did do well last night. Not a great game to watch

I doubt if the French lads will agree with you. I thought he was magnificiently Homeresque.

[McCloud]

munsterugby.ie


Referee John Lacey in Action
U20 World Cup Semi-Final for Munster Man


16 June 2010, 11:24 am
By Cliona Quaid


Munster Referee John Lacey will take charge of the U-20 World Cup semi-final fixture New Zealand -v- South Africa at Rosario, Argentina on Thursday, 17th June (k.o. 8.30 p.m. Irish time).

The former Munster full-back/winger is also a Coach Development Officer with the Munster Branch and has recently been promoted to the IRB Assistant Referee Panel.
This shows the potential of the Tipperary man who only started refereeing two season’s ago and must rank as one of the highlights of his refereeing career to-date.


John was awarded the Referee of the Year at the 2009 Munster Rugby Awards.


Ireland U-20s will face Samoa in Parana tomorrow to compete for 9th place in the tournament (k.o. 5 p.m. Irish time) with the selected team to be announced later today.


Should you wish to become a referee please contact Dave McHugh, IRFU Referee Development Officer at 086-3806638 or email david.mchugh@irfu.ie

[LuckyDucker]

Delighted for him, best of luck John!

[blackandwhite]

I had dealings with him when he was a Youth Development Officer and he was a genuinely nice guy. Good luck to him in the future.

[Danno]

Very nice man indeed