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Craig
Joubert

Craig Joubert is a former rugby referee who officiated in some of the game’s most memorable matches. Discover more about his career with rugby gurus RugbyPass.

Craig Joubert Bio

Craig Joubert is a former international rugby referee who currently works as a Referee Talent Development Coach at World Rugby. In total, he refereed 200 World Rugby Sevens Series matches, more than 100 Super Rugby clashes and a Rugby World Cup final. Craig Joubert was inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame in 2021.

Born 8 November 1977, Craig Joubert took up refereeing as a teenager in 1995. After five years at the amateur level, he then became a member of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Rugby Referees' Society and began refereeing on a full-time basis.

Craig Joubert then rose through the ranks quickly and began officiating in first class matches in South Africa in 2003. Here, he garnered international attention and began refereeing in several elite competitions. Between 2005 and 2016, he was on the Super Rugby panel, where he officiated in more than 100 games. During this time, he also took charge of three Super Rugby finals.

In 2005, Craig Joubert also started refereeing in international fixtures. On the international stage, he officiated in 69 test matches, including a British and Irish Lions game against Australia and a deciding Six Nations Championship match in 2012. But, the highlight of his career undoubtedly came in 2011, when he took charge of the Rugby World Cup final.

However, Craig Joubert’s career was not without controversy. His performance in the quarter-final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup was widely questioned and provoked outrage from players, pundits and coaches alike. After several questionable calls throughout the game, he awarded Australia a penalty in the final minute and then ran from the field at full time. Australia won the game by a single point and World Rugby later clarified that he should not have awarded the penalty.

Craig Joubert retired from refereeing the XV-a-side game in 2016 in order to take up a post as a Referee Talent Development Coach with World Rugby. Following this, he continued to referee Rugby Sevens matches, but he hung up his boots in 2018 after refereeing his 200th game in the competition.

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