White
Chris White is a former rugby referee who officiated at three Rugby World Cups. Discover his career with RugbyPass, your dedicated rugby gurus.
Chris White Bio
Chris White is a former English rugby union referee who officiated at three Rugby World Cups. He also took charge of 50 test matches and more than 50 matches in the Heineken Champions Cup. Chris White was inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame in 2021.
Born 16 July 1963, Chris White refereed his first rugby match at the age of 17. He then joined the Gloucester Referees Society in 1990.
By 1999, Chris White had firmly established himself as one of the world’s great rugby referees. As a result, he was appointed to officiate at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. Then, in the 2003 edition of the tournament, he had the honour of officiating the semi-final between Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, he was selected as a referee at his third and final Rugby World Cup.
As well as refereeing at three Rugby World Cups, Chris White also officiated some of the world’s greatest matches, including the 2005 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam decider between Ireland and Wales, and three Heineken Champions Cup finals.
However, Chris White’s career wasn’t without controversy. During a 2007 Six Nations Championship encounter between Italy and Wales, a timekeeping error gave Italy a rare win in Rome. He also sadly had to go off injured after just 12 minutes of the 2003 Heineken Champions Cup final.
In 2011, Chris White retired from professional refereeing. In total, he officiated in 50 test matches and 190 games in the English Premiership. His final game was a Help4Heroes Rugby Challenge match between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Since retiring from officiating, Chris White has held a role as a National Referee Academy manager with the RFU.
