| Born | David Thomas Michael McHugh[1] (1955-12-21)21 December 1955 (age 69) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| School | St Munchin's College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David McHugh is anIrish formerrugby union referee. McHugh refereed matches at the1995,1999 and2003 Rugby World Cups. In1996 McHugh refereed the inauguralHeineken Cup final. He would also referee the2001 final, making him the first referee to take charge of twoEuropean Rugby Champions Cup finals. He also refereed in theCeltic League, theSix Nations Championship and theTri Nations. In2002, while refereeing a Tri Nations match betweenSouth Africa andNew Zealand, McHugh was assaulted by a South African fan. After retiring as a referee in 2004, McHugh worked as a referee performance officer and then manager for theIrish Rugby Football Union.
McHugh was educated atSt Munchin's College and played as a scrum-half forAer Lingus,Highfield andBallincollig. Although originally fromLimerick, McHugh later settled inBlackrock, Cork. Before becoming a full-time professional referee, McHugh was a fruit importer.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
McHugh began refereeing in the 1980s. He later recalled taking charge of a schoolboy international between a Wales team featuringScott Quinnell and anEngland team captained byKyran Bracken. McHugh made his senior international debut as a referee on 17 September 1994 when he took charge of a1995 Rugby World Cup qualifier betweenRomania andWales atDinamo Stadium.[3][4][8][9]
On 18 February1995 McHugh made hisFive Nations Championship debut when he took charge of a match betweenFrance andScotland at theParc des Princes. On 21 February2004 he refereed his finalSix Nations Championship game when he took charge of the match betweenEngland and Scotland atMurrayfield.[3][10]
In1996 McHugh refereed the inauguralHeineken Cup final betweenStade Toulousain andCardiff. He also refereed the2001 final betweenLeicester Tigers andStade Français, making him the first referee to take charge of twoEuropean Rugby Champions Cup finals.[3][4][5][11]
McHugh refereed matches at the1995,1999 and2003 Rugby World Cups. He made his Rugby World Cup debut on 3 June 1995 taking charge of a match betweenCanada andSouth Africa. McHugh issued threered cards, sending off Canada'sRod Snow andGareth Rees and South Africa'sJames Dalton following a brawl. McHugh went onto referee sixRugby World Cup matches over three tournaments.[3][4][5][10][12]
On 10 August 2002 McHugh was refereeing aTri Nations match betweenSouth Africa andNew Zealand at theABSA Stadium. McHugh had awarded New Zealand apenalty try, after a high tackle onTana Umaga, and denied South Africa'sBreyton Paulse a try after an interference call againstJames Dalton. These incidents allegedly incited Pieter Van Zyl, a South African supporter, to invade the pitch and tackle and assault McHugh. Van Zyl evaded over four hundred security officials to launch the assault as New Zealand'sJustin Marshall was preparing to put the ball into a scrum. New Zealand'sRichie McCaw punched Van Zyl and, together with South Africa'sAJ Venter, wrestled the assailant off McHugh. Van Zyl was then escorted off the pitch by two security officials. The assault left McHugh with a dislocated shoulder and he had to be replaced as the match referee byChris White.[13][14][15][16] Van Zyl was subsequently found guilty of assaulting McHugh and fined R10,000 (€1,012). He also received a lifelong ban, preventing him from attending matches organised by theSouth African Rugby Union.[17][18]
After retiring as a referee, McHugh continued to be employed by theIRFU in various roles. He served as specialist advisor on the2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.[3] He also acted as atelevision match official[19] and as an assessor.[20] However his main role was to work as a referee development officer. McHugh would help recruit and mentor bothJohn Lacey andJoy Neville.[21][22][23]In August 2015 McHugh became the IRFU referee performance manager. This involved coaching and managing the IRFU's elite panel of referees who took charge of matches in thePro14, theEuropean Rugby Champions Cup and theEuropean Rugby Challenge Cup as well astest matches. On 5 October 2017 his contract with the IRFU was terminated, following an independent review of the referee department. McHugh subsequently took legal action, involving theHigh Court, against the IRFU, claimingunfair dismissal. However on 7 November 2017 it was announced that the McHugh and the IRFU had reached asettlement.[6][7][24][25]