Green and Gold for Murray

2019-11-01

Ashleigh Murray (24) received her Springbok blazer from SA Rugby Referees Manager Banks Yantolo at the Golden Lions Rugby Referees Society 2019 Annual Awards Dinner at Rand Park Golf Club on Thursday evening.

The highly respected Murray walked away with the top awards on the night as GLRRS Referee of the Year, Female Referee of the Year and Ambassador of the Referees. 

But the Green and Gold blazer is the cherry on top of an illustrious career which is set to catapult Murray into the international scene on a major scale. She is without a doubt one of the top woman referees in the country and is respected by her peers and players from all levels, male and female.

Her performance at the Africa Women’s Rugby World Cup Qualifying matches between Kenya and Uganda in August and Madagascar and Uganda in the Women’s Cup at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan was of such a high standard that SA Rugby felt they had no other option but to award her with the Springbok blazer and Yantolo was full of praise for the youngster.

An even more exciting international schedule awaits her following her appointment at the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series tournaments where she will take to the field in her first 2019/20 Sevens Series event from 5 to 7 December in Dubai. This will be followed a week later by the inaugural Women’s Cape Town Sevens.

She will hold the whistle again at the Langford Sevens Series in Canada early in May 2020, before travelling to France for the Paris Sevens at the end of that month.

This will mark Murray’s second season on the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series referee panel, after a successful stint in the circuit 2018/2019 season.

The full list of winners are:

Ref of Year – Ashleigh Murray

Female Ref – Ashleigh Murray

Male Ref - Hernus Coetzee

Pirates - Penwell Magagula

Grade 1 - Cameron Read

Grade 2 - Enrico Plaatjie

Grade 3 - JD le Roux

Chairman's Award - Philip du Toit

PR/Coach - Vynette Boshoff

Most Promising - Reghardt 'O Neill

Most games - Sandile Dlamini

Most valuable Contribution - Charles Butler

Sponsor - Acme Pools

Highest Exam - PD vd Merwe

Best Active Fitness - Graciano Pienaar

Club – Alberton Rugby Club

Ambassador – Ashleigh Murray

Annemie Bester