Early years Courtney first began refereeing in the 1990s. He was attending a tournament organised by
Old Belvedere when a tannoy announcer asked "is there a referee in the house?". Courtney answered the call and subsequently refereed junior matches before working his way up to
All-Ireland League level.
European competitions In 2000 Courtney began refereeing in the
Heineken Cup and the
European Rugby Challenge Cup. On 25 May 2003 he refereed the
2002–03 Parker Pen Shield final between
Caerphilly and
Castres Olympique. Courtney refereed 44 European club games.
Early internationals Courtney refereed at the 2001
Under 21 Rugby World Championship and then began refereeing A internationals during 2001 and 2002. He made his senior international refereeing debut on 7 September 2002 when he took charge of a
2003 Rugby World Cup qualifier between
Uruguay and
Chile. During his career, Courtney would referee a further six
Rugby World Cup qualifiers.
Six Nations Championship Between
2004 and
2007, Courtney refereed three matches in the
Six Nations Championship. He made his Six Nations debut on 14 February 2004 when he took charge of a match between
Wales and
Scotland. In addition to refereeing, Courtney also served as a
television match official and touch judge in the Six Nations. During the
2007 Six Nations Championship Courtney officiated at three of Scotland's matches. On 3 February 2007 he served as the TMO during the match between
England and Scotland. He confirmed a try for England's
Jonny Wilkinson despite video footage clearly showing that Wilkinson's foot had been in touch. At a post-match press conference, Scotland's coach,
Frank Hadden, heavily criticised Courtney for his decision. On 17 March 2007 during the match between France and Scotland he served as a touch judge for
Craig Joubert. During the match Courtney mistook
Sean Lamont for his brother
Rory Lamont following a yellow card offence. As a result, the wrong Lamont brother was sin-bined. On 24 February 2007 Courtney refereed his final Six Nations fixture, the match between Scotland and Italy at
Murrayfield Stadium. Italy won 37–21, their first away win in the Six Nations.
List of internationals Sources credit Courtney with refereeing between 20 and 24 Test Matches. This list may be incomplete. Later years In April 2007 Courtney retired as a referee and touch judge. ==References==