Joël Jutge is still in the early stages of his career as a Test referee, the Frenchman having only made his debut in Italy’s 37-17 defeat of Romania in Naples on November 18 2000.
The 37-year-old, who until earlier this year was the only French official on the International Rugby Board’s merit panels, turned to refereeing in 1991 after his playing career was cut short by a knee ligament injury.
Jutge was only seven when he first started playing rugby and went on to represent Colomiers in the French Championship at the tender age of 18, the scrum-half later moving to Cahors where he injured his knee in a tackle by Abdel Benazzi.
A member of the Midi-Pyrenees Referees Society, Jutge controlled his first Six Nations Championship fixture in March 2002 with Scotland’s injury-time 27-22 defeat of Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Two months later Jutge, who was born in Lavaur, returned to the Millennium Stadium to referee the seventh European Cup final between Leicester Tigers and Irish province Munster.
Jutge works as a technician with Electricité de France (EDF) and is approaching double figures in terms of the number of Tests he has controlled.