Ben Connor has been picked as one of the 12 referees to take charge of the matches at the 2026 World Rugby Junior World Championship in Georgia.
Joining him at the tournament as a TMO will be Aled Griffiths, who was also involved in last year’s competition in Italy. The final between New Zealand and South Africa was refereed by Welsh official Ben Breakspear.
Breakspear also refereed at the 2023 tournament, while Adam Jones was in South Africa in 2024 and Craig Evans was in Argentina in 2019.
Jones will be in charge of the BKT United Rugby Championship quarter final clash between Glasgow Warriors and Connacht on Friday night (29 May) and will have Breakspear and Evans as his assistants and Griffiths as TMO.
“The Junior World Championship is not only an opportunity for aspiring players to push for greater accolades but also Match Officials,” said Ian Davies, the WRU’s National Elite Performance Match Official Manager.
“Last year Ben Breakspear refereed the final and now this year has kicked onto to this summer officiate at senior level when he heads to the USA to referee two senior internationals.
“Ben Connor will this summer head to Tbilisi selected as one of 12 referees from around the globe. At 22 years of age now, I’ve been fortunate to have worked with Ben since he was 16.
“Ben is incredibly self-critical and always wants to find ways of being better. That is a great characteristic to have in an official.
“What is now refreshing to see in Wales is a really talented group of young match officials coming through. Ben Breakspear knows that Ben Connor is breathing down his neck, and both are fully aware that others are not too far away from taking their first steps into the professional game.
“This competition is healthy and will hopefully lead us to having a place at the top table of referees very soon.”
The tournament in Georgia kicks off on 27 June and plays through to 18 July. Richard Whiffin’s Wales U20 side are drawn in Pool A with reigning champions South African, host nation Georgia and Uruguay.
Connor has been handed two games as a referee and two more as an assistant in the pool stages. He opens as the man in the middle for the Six Nations battle between England and Ireland on 27 June and will also be in charge of the match between South Africa and Australia on 7 July.
He will have a double shift on thew touchline on 2 July when he is AE1 for Argentina v Ireland and then AR2 for the game between South Africa and Georgia.
Griffiths has been handed five games as a TMO in the pool stages – England v Ireland, South Africa v Uruguay, Argentina v Ireland, South Africa v Georgia and Scotland v Japan.