Marius van der Westhuizen

Marius van der Westhuizen (born 6 January 1984) is a South African professional rugby union referee, currently on the Premier Panel of the South African Rugby Referees' Association.

Early career

Van Der Westhuizen was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He started his refereeing career in 2007 and refereed in matches in the leagues. In 2009, he became a member of SARRA's contenders squad and took charge of matches in the Craven Week and Under-19 Provincial Championship competitions.

Van Der Westhuizen started refereeing first-class matches in 2011, debuting in the 2011 Vodacom Cup match between the and the in Bloemfontein. He took charge of ten matches in the 2011 Under-19 and Under-21 Provincial Championships.

2012 saw him referee in several Varsity Cup and Varsity Shield matches and take charge of three matches during the 2012 Vodacom Cup. His first Currie Cup appointment was the match between the and in George, and he also took charge of the Cavaliers' match against the in Welkom, as well as several matches in the 2012 Under-21 Provincial Championship and the match between Wales Under-18 and England Under-18.

International Van Der Westhuizen became a referee on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit, where he very quickly established himself as one of the top referees, being the man in charge of the 2013 Hong Kong Sevens final in just his third tournament. He was also named on the refereeing panel for Moscow's 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Further appointments in Varsity Rugby followed in 2013 (which included refereeing the 2013 Varsity Cup final between and ), and there were four more Vodacom Cup appearances. He officiated three matches in the 2013 Currie Cup First Division before his first Premier Division appointment for the match between the and in Johannesburg, his first of five matches in the competition.

Van Der Westhuizen was named on SANZAR's referee list for the 2014 Super Rugby season and was in charge of his first Super Rugby match when the met the in Johannesburg.

Van Der Westhuizen also officiated at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. and at the 2014 IRB Junior World Championship, taking charge of three matches, including the 5th-place play-off semi-final between Australia and Samoa,

Van der Westhuizen refereed at the 2015 Tbilisi Cup to become the 69th test referee for South Africa.