 Kubo in 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Shuhei Kubo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1981-06-09)9 June 1981 (age 43) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tsukushi,Kyushu,Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Full time referee | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shuhei Kubo (久保 修平,Kubo Shūhei, born June 9, 1981 inTsukushi,Japan) is a Japaneserugby union referee, who is an A class referee in theJapan Rugby Football Union.
Kubo, now a referee on theTop League refereeing panel, was a member of a 4-man officials panel for the2012 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy before he had even made his Top League debut.[1] Later that year, he made his League debut, refereeingToyota Verblitz againstNEC Green Rockets on 26 January 2013. That same year, he was promoted up to theIRB Junior World Championship from the trophy where refereed three games.[2]
On 17 December 2013 he made his international refereeing debut, taking charge of the first test betweenHong Kong andBelgium.
In 2014, he appeared in the2014 Asian Five Nations, which also doubled as2015 Rugby World Cup qualification, where he managed two matches. In 2015, Kubo return to the World Rugby Under 20 Championship, which saw him manage three games,[3] includingNew Zealand vArgentina and the 7th place game,Scotland vIreland. On 10 September 2015, Kubo became the first Japanese referee to officiate anITM Cup match, refereeingWaikato's clash againstSouthland. The following week he took charge ofTasman's home game againstNorth Harbour.
In 2016, he became the first Japanese referee to referee aSuper Rugby match. He was in charge of the game between theSouthern Kings and theBulls.[4] That year he also refereed three World Rugby internationals, taking charge ofCanada againstRussia during theJune international window, before finishing the year with his first Tier 2 v Tier 2 game (Romania v Canada) having previously only refereed matches that has featured Tier 3 nations.