Joël Jutge (born 5 April 1966 in

Lavaur, Tarn Lavaur (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in southern France. History Lavaur was taken in 1211 by Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort during the wars of t ...

) is a former French international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. He made his international refereeing debut in a 2000 match between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Jutge decided to be a referee in 1991 after his playing career was brought to an end by a knee ligament injury. He played for French club

US Colomiers Union Sportive Colomiers Rugby or Rugby Colomiers is a French rugby union club currently competing in Pro D2, the second level of the French rugby pyramid. They had been relegated from Pro D2 after finishing last in the 2006–07 season, but ...

as a scrum-half, and later moved to

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

before becoming a referee. He is now a referee manager. He controlled many notable matches, and officiated his first

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

match in 2002, between

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and

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Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and subsequently the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

final between

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

and

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. He was a referee at the

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and was appointed as one for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

also. However, since the 2007 World Cup, he suffered a chronic knee injury and had to withdraw from refereeing the Calcutta Cup match in 2009. On 16 June 2009 it was announced that Jutge had retired from refereeing. On 3 August 2012 Jutge was announced as Paddy O'Brien's successor to the position of IRB High Performance Match Official Manager. He will begin on 3 September 2012.

References

External links

Joël Jutge
on rwc2003.irb.com * 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Lot (department) Rugby union players from Occitania (administrative region) French rugby union players 20th-century French sportsmen Rugby union scrum-halves French rugby union referees Rugby World Cup referees European Rugby Champions Cup referees Six Nations Championship referees The Rugby Championship referees Colomiers Rugby players Cahors Rugby players {{France-rugbyunion-bio-1940s-stub