Romain Poite

Who is Romain Poite?

Romain Poite is a French rugby union international referee. He made his World Cup debut as an assistant referee in 2007 during the match between Ireland and Namibia. He also officiated during three games in the 2009 Six Nations Championship. He refereed his first Six Nations match in 2010. Poite was appointed to the 10-man elite referees panel for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where he refereed four matches. He was also appointed to referee the third and deciding Test of the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour against Australia; the Lions won and Poite was commended for rewarding the dominant scrum.

During the 4th round of the Rugby championship, Poite yellow-carded South African hooker, Bismarck du Plessis for what he deemed was an illegal tackle on Dan Carter. He later admitted he made an error in awarding the card du Plessis. The International Rugby Board later rescinded the card for the Carter tackle.

Following this controversy, Romain Poite will be excluded a few months from the IRB panel but will return in the 6 Nations tournament.