Alain Rolland

Alain Rolland

Full name	Alain Colm Pierre Rolland
Date of birth	(1966-08-22) 22 August 1966
Place of birth	France
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	76 kg (12 st 0 lb)
Occupation(s)	Mortgage broker
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Scrum Half
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1996-1997	Blackrock Moseley	11
correct as of 1 Sep 2011.
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1989–1996	Leinster	40
correct as of 1 Sep 2011.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1990-1995	Ireland	3	(0)
correct as of 1 Sep 2011.
Refereeing career
Years	Competition		Apps
2003-2011 2001-2014	Rugby World Cup Test Matches

Alain Colm Pierre Rolland (born 22 August 1966, in France) is an Irish rugby union referee and former player. He played provincially for Leinster, and gained three caps for Ireland. He refereed the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and was an assistant referee in the final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In September 2013 he announced his intention to retire from refereeing at the end of the 2013/14 season.

Playing career

During his playing days as a scrum-half, Rolland earned three caps for Ireland. He started the match on 27 October 1990 against Argentina, and gained further caps as a replacement against Italy in 1994 and the USA in 1995. He won 40 provincial caps for Leinster, and played club rugby for Blackrock College. He also played 11 times for English club Moseley during the 1996/97 season.

Refereeing career

Rolland retired as a player at the start of the professional era and began refereeing, with his first Test appointment coming on 19 September 2001 when Wales beat Romania 81-9 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

He made his Six Nations refereeing debut six months later, when France beat Scotland 22-10 at Murrayfield, with his first Tri-Nations match following in July 2003, with New Zealand’s record 52-16 defeat of South Africa.

Rolland refereed in the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups and was appointed to referee the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Rolland, along with fellow Irishman George Clancy, was selected to a ten-man referee panel for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. He was an assistant referee in the final.

On 22 February 2014, Rolland refereed his last International match as Wales defeated France 27-6 in the 2014 Six Nations Championship at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. He is scheduled to referee his last major European contest on 24 May 2014 in the Heineken Cup final at the Millennium Stadium.

Rolland is a member of the Leinster Branch of Referees. His full-time job is as a mortgage broker in Dublin.

External links

• Alain Rolland on ESPN Scrum
• Player Profile (as archived on Webarchive)
• 2003 Match Official profile (as archived on Webarchive)