Advantage Over podcast for rugby referees

July 2026 laws and guidelines update

Today, it's a solo episode with Keith talking through the law changes that came into force on 1 July 2026, following World Rugby's Council meeting in June. While there's

Holly Wood talks about refereeing, bumps, babies and attracting elite players into picking up the whistle

Today, we're joined by Holly Wood, Rugby World Cup 2025 match official and referee across the men's and women's leagues here in England. This weekend (28 June 2026), she

Southland Rugby's Referee scholarships and wellbeing initiatives

Andrew Rowland, previously chair of Rugby Southland Referees joins me to talk about two initiatives they are running in the furthest south peninsula of New Zealand. Firs

Hollie Davidson - smashing ceilings in rugby refereeing

Today, we're joined by Hollie Davidson in a different type of interview - different because the questions weren't asked by Keith. This is the audio of a longer interview

Tarsh Ganley : A Rugby World Cup journey and beyond..

Today, I'm joined by Natarsha Ganley from New Zealand to chat about her rise from newbie to Rugby World Cup referee. We chat about her starting story, her new day job,

The Bald Ref - standing up for referees, and for mental health

Today, we're joined by Jonny Cartwright, who you may know as The_Bald_Ref on Instagram. He's just been recognised as Loosehead Of the Year 2025 at the Looseheadz Communit

The pod returns

Hi, it's Keith here and after numerous prods from you, dear listeners, it was time to get the recording device out once again. Bit of a catch up on a few things in toda

Global Law Trials for 2025

In this episode, Keith talks through the announcement from World Rugby following the Council meeting on 14 November which agreed to the introduction of four Global Law Tr

Launching the brand new rugby Refereeing Journal

This episode is all about you and something I've created for you. It's the sort of thing that I never knew I needed, but now it's a real, physical thing, Im hoping it hel

Ep 40 - What is going on with laws and law changes at World Rugby?

A walk through the law change proposals coming out of World Rugby in recent weeks. What is going on? What will actually change?  And when?  In today's episode, I will wa

Ep 39 - Refereeing tips if you're a 'coach with a whistle'

Today, I walk through some great tips for all those rugby coaches out there who have to take charge of a match as a referee. Are you a Coach with a Whistle (TM), rather

Episode 38: Refereeing as a wheelchair user with MND - Graeme Bloom

Today, we're joined by Graeme Bloom - a unique person in the rugby refereeing community. Graeme's a keen supporter of match officials and, despite an MND diagnosis in 2

Episode 37 - Refereeing news update

Hi, Keith Lewis from RugbyReferee.net here with a general update on refereeing news! Plenty to chat about from the referees and refereeing world at the moment! In this

Episode 36: New Zealand Rugby's community tackle height changes for 2023

Today, I'm joined by New Zealand Rugby's Mike Hester to chat about their law variations for the 2023 rugby season. They include a lower tackle height, a restriction on sc

Episode 35 - A new Law Application Guideline for 2023

It's a Happy New Year to you all! Today, Keith Lewis, founder of RugbyReferee.net and host of the Advantage Over podcast talks through a new World Rugby 2023 Law Applicat

Episode 34: July 2022 Law Changes now in play

Today, it's a solo episode with Keith talking through all the new law changes and amends that have now come into play from 1 July 2022. In summary, Keith talks about A

Episode 33 - Mental skills for Refereeing

Today, we're joined by Tim Wyatt, a Sport and Exercise Psychologist (in training) to chat about... well.. sport and psychology! Especially for us as rugby referees. We c

Episode 32 - Refereeing ugly

Today, it's a solo episode looking at the one of the less pleasant sides of our game - the general increase in angst and poor behaviour on and around the rugby field. W

Episode 31 - Scottish Rugby's Match Official Strategy with Andrew Macpherson

I'm joined by Andrew Macpherson, now the High Performance Match Official Manager from Scottish Rugby to talk about their new three year Refereeing and Match Official Deve

Episode 30: Staying referee fit without any rugby

I'm joined for a second time by Ross Hanbury, a referee fitness specialist who's been working with various referee societies and referees for some years now. We talk abo