Early years McHugh began refereeing in the 1980s. He later recalled taking charge of a schoolboy international between a Wales team featuring
Scott Quinnell and an
England team captained by
Kyran Bracken. McHugh made his senior international debut as a referee on 17 September 1994 when he took charge of a
1995 Rugby World Cup qualifier between
Romania and
Wales at
Dinamo Stadium.
Six Nations Championship On 18 February
1995 McHugh made his
Five Nations Championship debut when he took charge of a match between
France and
Scotland at the
Parc des Princes. On 21 February
2004 he refereed his final
Six Nations Championship game when he took charge of the match between
England and Scotland at
Murrayfield.
Heineken Cup In
1996 McHugh refereed the inaugural
Heineken Cup final between
Stade Toulousain and
Cardiff. He also refereed the
2001 final between
Leicester Tigers and
Stade Français, making him the first referee to take charge of two
European Rugby Champions Cup finals.
Rugby World Cup McHugh refereed matches at the
1995,
1999 and
2003 Rugby World Cups. He made his Rugby World Cup debut on 3 June 1995 taking charge of a match between
Canada and
South Africa. McHugh issued three
red cards, sending off Canada's
Rod Snow and
Gareth Rees and South Africa's
James Dalton following a brawl. McHugh went onto referee six
Rugby World Cup matches over three tournaments.
Tri Nations assault On 10 August 2002 McHugh was refereeing a
Tri Nations match between
South Africa and
New Zealand at the
ABSA Stadium. McHugh had awarded New Zealand a
penalty try, after a high tackle on
Tana Umaga, and denied South Africa's
Breyton Paulse a try after an interference call against
James Dalton. These incidents allegedly incited Pieter Van Zyl, a South African supporter, to invade the pitch and tackle and assault McHugh. Van Zyl evaded over four hundred security officials to launch the assault as New Zealand's
Justin Marshall was preparing to put the ball into a scrum. New Zealand's
Richie McCaw punched Van Zyl and, together with South Africa's
AJ Venter, wrestled the assailant off McHugh. Van Zyl was then escorted off the pitch by two security officials. The assault left McHugh with a dislocated shoulder and he had to be replaced as the match referee by
Chris White. Van Zyl was subsequently found guilty of assaulting McHugh and fined R10,000 (€1,012). He also received a lifelong ban, preventing him from attending matches organised by the
South African Rugby Union.
IRFU After retiring as a referee, McHugh continued to be employed by the
IRFU in various roles. He served as specialist advisor on the
2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. and as an assessor. However his main role was to work as a referee development officer. McHugh would help recruit and mentor both
John Lacey and
Joy Neville. In August 2015 McHugh became the IRFU referee performance manager. This involved coaching and managing the IRFU's elite panel of referees who took charge of matches in the
Pro14, the
European Rugby Champions Cup and the
European Rugby Challenge Cup as well as
test matches. On 5 October 2017 his contract with the IRFU was terminated, following an independent review of the referee department. McHugh subsequently took legal action, involving the
High Court, against the IRFU, claiming
unfair dismissal. However, on 7 November 2017 it was announced that the McHugh and the IRFU had reached a
settlement. ==References==