Three Bay of Plenty rugby referees selected for national squad

Referee Nick Briant has been selected for the NZR national squad. Photo / Sam Ackland

Bay of Plenty Rugby referees Nick Briant, Andy Morton and Tiana Ngawati have been selected for the National Refereeing Squad for the upcoming FPC, Heartland and NPC seasons.

Briant returns for his 14th consecutive season on the national panel, and being only six matches away from reaching his 200th first-class appointment he will be looking for a good start when the NPC kicks off on August 7.

Briant, who controlled the last two NPC premiership finals, is joined in the National Squad by Englishman Andy Morton, who arrived in New Zealand in December 2021 with his partner and Black Ferns physio to the Bay of Plenty.

Morton, who came with a big reputation, has made an immediate impact in the Farmlands Baywide premier mens' competition, demonstrating a number of high-performance traits that NZR are looking for.

A heavily pregnant Tiana Ngawati was also named in this year's squad but will start maternity leave from her role as Bay of Plenty Rugby performance general manager on Friday July 9.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Referees Club chairman David Hodgson said they were all extremely happy for their three members being selected.

Referee Tiana Ngawati. Photo / Supplied

"It demonstrates that we have some quality members of our club and we will celebrate their selection with pride."

Hodgson said they also celebrated two of their former club members, George Haswell and Taneika Uerata, who moved south to Christchurch for work and study a couple of years ago, who had also been named in the squad.

The 2022 New Zealand referee high-performance squad is:

Jono Bredin (Hawke's Bay)
Nick Briant (Bay of Plenty)
Stu Catley (Hawke's Bay)
Maggie Cogger-Orr (Auckland)
Stu Curran (Manawatu)
Erin Doherty* (Otago)
James Doleman (Otago)
Mike Fraser (Wellington)
Natarsha Ganley (North Harbour)
Fraser Hannon (Otago)
George Haswell (Canterbury)
Jackson Henshaw (South Canterbury)
Nick Hogan (Hawke's Bay)
Lauren Jenner (Counties Manukau)
Will Johnston* (Taranaki)
Angus Mabey (Auckland)
Georgia Mason* (Southland)
Daniel Moore (Canterbury)
Andrew Morton* (Bay of Plenty)
Tiana Ngawati (Bay of Plenty)
Ben O'Keeffe (Horowhenua Kapiti)
Brendon Pickerill (North Harbour)
Marcus Playle (Auckland)
Cam Stone (Taranaki)
Taneika Uerata (Canterbury)
Dan Waenga (Hawke's Bay)
Cassie Watt (Southland)
Paul Williams (Taranaki)
Michael Winter (Waikato)
Larissa Woolerton (Waikato)
Ben Woolerton (Waikato)

*Denotes selection to the squad for the first time.