USA Rugby Match Officials continue active 2025 highlighted by Rugby World Cup assignments

2025 has been a benchmark year in rugby, accented by exciting selections for USA Match Officials on the domestic and international level.

World Rugby recently announced match officials for the Women’s Rugby World Cup taking place in England this August, with referees Kat Roche and Amelia Luciano named to the official panel.

This is yet another outstanding achievement for Roche, who refereed the women’s rugby sevens gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This will be Roche’s second Rugby World Cup, having been an Assistant Referee in 2021. This time around, she has been named among the 10 Referees for the tournament. Luciano, a Test Match referee in her own right, will be attending in an Assistant Referee role and this is her first Rugby World Cup selection. Roche heads to Wellington, NZL in July to take charge of the New Zealand vs Australia warm up match in the lead up to the tournament.

In the meantime, this weekend Roche will be officiating the Final of the Women’s Elite Rugby competition in Minneapolis, in an exciting conclusion to the competition’s debut season. In the nation’s other professional rugby final this weekend, Luke Rogan will be in the middle for the Major League Rugby decider in Rhode Island. Recently, Rogan officiated at the Oceania Rugby U20s in Fiji, and this will be his second MLR final.

Furthermore, the World Rugby Men’s U20 Championship 2025 kicks off in Italy, and the USA will have representation there with Lex Weiner being selected as one of ten referees from ten different nations. His first match with the whistle will be Scotland vs Australia on July 4. These World Rugby selections highlight an active spring and summer for USA Rugby Match Officials, with further American representation across the World Rugby SVNS, the Summer Test window, other international competitions, and key domestic championships at Senior Club and Collegiate level here at home.

USA Rugby Referee Manager Jamie McGregor said on the Rugby World Cup assignments and productive year, “My congratulations to Kat, Amelia, Luke, Lex, and all the referees with international assignments so far this year. We are working hard to provide a connection from the local level, through domestic assignments and into the professional and international game.

While there is still more to be done, announcements like these suggest that USA Rugby’s significant investment in the refereeing pathway is moving the needle and the game forward here in the USA. My thanks and congratulations to all the referees who have been involved in major matches this Fall in Senior Club and College competition – these levels are the life blood of the sport – and my thanks to those who have coached and managed these referees along the way.”