Paul Honiss
Encyclopedia
Paul Gerard Honiss is a retired rugby union
referee
from Hamilton
, New Zealand
.
Honiss held the record of the most test matches refereed (46) when he retired as an international rugby union referee in July 2008. That record has since been surpassed by Jonathan Kaplan
. He first started refereeing in 1984, making his international referee debut in a 1997 Rugby World Cup
qualifier between Tahiti
and the Cook Islands
.
Honiss was subsequently selected to officiate at the 1999 Rugby World Cup
in Wales
, and the 2003 Rugby World Cup
in Australia
. He was also selected as a referee for the 2007 Rugby World Cup
in France
.
During the 2007 World Cup Honiss equaled Welshman
Derek Bevan's record for most Tests as a referee when he took charge of his 44th Test, a Pool D
match between Argentina
and Ireland
on 30 September. He surpassed Bevan when he presided over the third-place match between Argentina and France
on 19 October.
His final match in charge was between Australia
and France
, at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, with the home team winning 40-10.
and tennis
court
in Saint John's College of Hamilton, New Zealand
is named after his father Paul Honiss, an old boy of the school's predecessor Marist Brothers High School.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
referee
Referee
A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...
from Hamilton
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Honiss held the record of the most test matches refereed (46) when he retired as an international rugby union referee in July 2008. That record has since been surpassed by Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan
Jonathan Kaplan is an American film producer and director.Kaplan was born in Paris, France. He is the son of film composer Sol Kaplan and actress Frances Heflin; the nephew of actor Van Heflin. He is the brother of actresses Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan...
. He first started refereeing in 1984, making his international referee debut in a 1997 Rugby World Cup
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....
qualifier between Tahiti
Tahiti national rugby union team
The Tahiti national rugby union team is a third tier rugby union team, representing the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. They first played in 1971 and have played just 12 games to date, four against the Cook Islands and three against Niue. Other games have...
and the Cook Islands
Cook Islands national rugby union team
The Cook Islands is a third tier rugby union playing nation. They began playing international rugby in the early 1971. Thus far, the Cook Islands have not made an appearance at any of the World Cups.-History:...
.
Honiss was subsequently selected to officiate at the 1999 Rugby World Cup
1999 Rugby World Cup
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and the 2003 Rugby World Cup
2003 Rugby World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the New Zealand Rugby Football Union and Rugby World...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. He was also selected as a referee for the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
During the 2007 World Cup Honiss equaled Welshman
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...
Derek Bevan's record for most Tests as a referee when he took charge of his 44th Test, a Pool D
2007 Rugby World Cup - Pool D
Pool D of the 2007 Rugby World Cup began on 7 September and concluded on 30 September. The pool was composed of World Cup hosts France, Argentina, Georgia, Ireland and Namibia....
match between Argentina
Argentina national rugby union team
The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union .Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British...
and Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
on 30 September. He surpassed Bevan when he presided over the third-place match between Argentina and France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
on 19 October.
His final match in charge was between Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
and France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
, at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia, with the home team winning 40-10.
Trivia
A hockeyField hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
court
Court
A court is a form of tribunal, often a governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law...
in Saint John's College of Hamilton, New Zealand
St. John's College, Hamilton
St John's College is a state-integrated Catholic boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. The school was established by the Marist Order in 1961 from Marist School . The school crest features the eagle of St. John the Apostle, with the motto "Caritas Christi Urget Nos" strewn across the...
is named after his father Paul Honiss, an old boy of the school's predecessor Marist Brothers High School.
External links
- Paul Honiss on rwc2003.irb.com
- Rugby World Cup 2007 match official appointments set IRB.com