Marius van der Westhuizen


Marius van der Westhuizen is a South African rugby union referee, currently on the Premier Panel of the South African Rugby Referees' Association.

Early career

He was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He started his refereeing career in 2007 and refereed in matches in the leagues. In 2009, he became a member of SARRA's contenders squad and he took charge of matches in the Craven Week and Under-19 Provincial Championship competitions.
He started refereeing first class matches in 2011, making his debut in the 2011 Vodacom Cup match between the and the in Bloemfontein and took charge of ten matches in the 2011 Under-19 and Under-21 Provincial Championships.
2012 saw him referee in a number of Varsity Cup and Varsity Shield matches, as well as taking charge of three matches during the 2012 Vodacom Cup. His first Currie Cup appointment was the match between the and in George and he also took charge of the Cavaliers match against the in Welkom, as well as a number of matches in the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship and the match between Wales Under-18 and England Under-18.

International

He became a referee on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit, where he very quickly established himself as one of the top referees, being the man in charge of the 2013 Hong Kong Sevens final in just his third tournament. He was also named on the refereeing panel for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow.
Further appointments in Varsity Rugby followed in 2013, as well as a further four Vodacom Cup appearances. He officiated three matches in the 2013 Currie Cup First Division before his first Premier Division appointment for the match between the and in Johannesburg, his first of five matches in the competition.
He was named on SANZAR's referee list for the 2014 Super Rugby season and was in charge of his first Super Rugby match when the met the in Johannesburg.
He also officiated at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. as well as at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship, taking charge of three matches, including the 5th-place play-off semi-final between Australia and Samoa,
Van der Westhuizen refereed at the 2015 Tbilisi Cup to become the 69th test referee for South Africa.