- Alain Rolland
Alain Colm Pierre Rolland (born
22 August 1966 inDublin ) is a former Irishrugby union footballer and current international referee.Rolland had a French father and speaks fluent French, supposedly making him an 'ideal neutral' referee for matches involving teams from English speaking countries and
France . During his playing days as a scrum-half, Rolland earned three caps for nrut|Ireland. He started the match on27 October 1990 against nrut|Argentina, and gained further caps as a replacement against nrut|Italy in 1994 and the USA in 1995. He also won 40 Leinster caps, playing for Blackrock College.Rolland retired as a player at the dawn of the professional era and turned to refereeing instead, with his first Test appointment coming on
19 September 2001 when nrut|Wales beat nrut|Romania 81-9 atCardiff ’sMillennium Stadium .He made his Six Nations refereeing debut six months later, when France beat Scotland 22-10 at Murrayfield, with his first Tri-Nations match following in
July 2003 , with nrut|New Zealand’s 52-16 record defeat of nrut|South Africa.Rolland refereed in the 2003 and 2007
Rugby World Cup s and was appointed to referee the final of the2007 Rugby World Cup . [ [http://www.irishrugby.ie/8684_9287.php Rolland Selected To Referee World Cup Final ] ]Rolland combines his role as a referee with his life as a mortgage broker in Dublin.
Rolland, like Donal Courtney and Alan Lewis, is a member of the Leinster Branch of Referees.
References
External links
* [http://www.irishrugby.ie/227_7678.php?player=11842&includeref=dynamic Ireland profile]
* [http://www.rwc2003.irb.com/EN/Tournament/Match+Officials/Officials/Alain+Rolland.htm]
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