Fhatuwani 'Rasta' Rasivhenge (born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

on 3 January 1986) is a South African rugby union referee who is a member of the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...

(SARU) Premier Panel. He was appointed to referee the final of the rugby sevens tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Career

Rasivhenge has been a regular referee on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit since the 2011–12 season and also refereed in South African domestic rugby union competitions, the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

Vodacom Cup The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...

and Varsity Cup since 2010. Rasivhenge was also a

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

referee during the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In 2014, Rasivhenge took a sabbatical from the

and was recruited by the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It is a ...

; he subsequently appeared as an Australian referee in the IRB Sevens World Series. He returned to South Africa prior to the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and signed a contract with SARU until 2019. He refereed eight matches in the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division and was awarded the final between the and , in the process becoming the youngest referee ever to do so. He was also appointed to referee two matches in the French professional leagues in 2015–16 – a

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

match between and and a

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

match between and . In 2016, Rasivhenge was added to the referees' roster for the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

for the first time. Rasivhenge was also selected as a referee for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. At the games, he was appointed to referee the final of the games between England and Fiji, won by the Fijians 41-7.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasivhenge, Rasta Living people South African expatriates in Australia South African rugby union referees 1986 births ARU referees SARU referees Currie Cup referees United Rugby Championship referees Top 14 referees Super Rugby referees