It is with great sadness that World Rugby notes the passing of citing commissioner Steve Savage, who died on 14 November, 2017 while in Germany where he had been on official duty at an international match.

A long-serving and popular referee in his native England, he spent much of his time lately in Spain where he was involved in training of match officials. Once his refereeing days were over, he moved into citing and was quickly recognised as a strong and empathetic CC with a real feel for the game.

He was recently appointed to the World Rugby U20 Championship 2017 in Georgia and last weekend he was citing in Leipzig for the Germany v Brazil test match on Saturday where he later took ill and subsequently passed away. As a mark of respect, the Germany team intend to wear black armbands in his memory this weekend during their match against USA in Wiesbaden, near Frankfurt.

World Rugby Citing Commissioners Manager Steve Hinds said: “Steve was a great rugby man, who many of us were fortunate to know. All of us who have had the pleasure of working with him, whether at European Professional Club Rugby, the RFU, in Spain and recently for World Rugby at the U20 Championship, will miss his sense of humour, warmth and character.

“Steve’s passing and contribution to the game through refereeing and citing, in particular, will be marked at the World Rugby Council meeting in London on Wednesday. The sympathies and condolences of all who knew him through rugby are with his family at this terrible time.”