IRISH REFEREE CHRIS Busby has confirmed his decision to retire from professional rugby.

As first reported by The 42 earlier this month, Busby has made the decision to step away despite being one of the top prospects in international refereeing, and the Ulster man confirmed the news in a post on LinkedIn this morning.

Busby was the referee at the centre of Mack Hansen’s criticism of match officials following Connacht’s URC defeat to Leinster in December, which led to the Ireland winger receiving a three-match ban.

While the Hansen incident is not believed to have been the sole reason for his decision, it is understood Busby had strongly considered immediately retiring. Last week the URC confirmed Busby will be available for selection for the rest of the URC season, and in his statement this morning Busby said he will retire “over the next few months.”

“As has been widely reported over the past few weeks, I’ve decided to hang up the whistle and will be retiring from professional rugby over the next few months,” Busby said.

“It’s been a truly amazing journey, allowing me to share the pitch with some of the best players in the world, and taking me to stadiums and places I could barely have dreamed of when I started reffing.

“There are too many people who have supported me to thank individually, but my wife and family have always provided amazing support, and they’ve made so many sacrifices to allow me to travel the world. I’ll also always be grateful for the work and friendship of my coaches, David Wilkinson and Johnny Lacey, who somehow managed to take me from reffing 4XV games in Ulster to the middle of some amazing Test Matches and RWC2023 in France!

“I know the transition away from professional sport will have its challenges over the next few months, but I can’t wait to get started on the next chapter. If you have any thoughts, experiences or connections that might help me identify opportunities where I can put my skills to good use, I’d love to have a chat or grab a coffee.

“Thanks to all the players, coaches, fans, and especially the refereeing community who have made it all possible—through all the highs and lows, I’ve absolutely loved every second of it!”

Earlier this week, IRFU performance director David Humphreys was asked about the Hansen incident during a press briefing at Ireland’s pre-Six Nations training camp in Portugal.

“Everybody knows what Mack did was wrong,” Humphreys said.

“I know there’s been lots of chatting that we want players showing their personality and of course we do. That’s what Mack brings, it’s one of his points of difference that he brings a real different background. He has been a breath of fresh air through the squad in many ways. But there’s a line. There’s a reason why in professional sport that it’s not acceptable to criticise the referee.

“With what Mack said – and he acknowledges it now and Connacht acknowledge – in the aftermath of the game crossed that line.

“We know what a brutal challenge it is to be a referee in rugby. I’d make a strong view that it’s the hardest game to referee because of the technical nature, so we have to protect our referees. We also talk a huge amount about values, about respect, and that’s what underpins the game we play. We can’t lose that, we’ve got a responsibility to make sure that’s retained and maintained. That’s why the action was taken against Mack. So very clearly what Mack said was unacceptable.

“On the Chris Busby thing, absolutely, losing a referee who is coming into the peak of his career is a huge loss but I think there’s also elements to that which, we talk about players and moving players, there’s sometimes reasons behind decisions which sometimes aren’t in the public domain.”