YET more accolades have befallen former Grade One official Gerry Kershaw in his glittering post-refereeing career, writes Dianne Hillaby.

Kershaw, head of the upper school at Easingwold School, has been appointed as the Rugby League's referees' representative in France for the forthcoming World Cup.

He will be responsible for the three referees taking charge of the six matches in France - Steve Ganson (England), Darren Hopewell (New Zealand) and Steve Clark (Australia). He will also be taking a fitness coach, coach in the stand and a Crown Court Judge who will deal with disciplinary hearings.

"I will be making sure the match officials are where they should be and one of my main jobs will be to ensure that, after the game, we have the system in place to deal with any citations and sendings-off," explained Kershaw, who is 57 this month.

It is the latest in a long line of honours which have been handed to Kershaw following his retirement as a top referee at the age of 50. He has been the referee's coach in the stand for the last two Super League Grand Finals, was the video ref for this year's Challenge Cup final at Murrayfield and deputised for the Rugby League's referees' controller, Greg McCallum, when the Australian went on leave earlier this year.

It has all added up to a busy couple of years for Kershaw who owes a debt to the school where he works.

"The governors have been extremely supportive. I have had nothing but support from them and I couldn't have done this if it hadn't been for them," he said.

He will be based in France throughout the Group Three matches, which feature France, Papua New Guinea, South Africa and Tonga.

On his return he hopes to be involved in the later stages of the competition in some capacity.

Kershaw, who took charge of a Challenge Cup final, several internationals and an array of other finals in over 20 years as a Grade One official, is anticipating a glorious month for the sport.

He said: "The feeling at Rugby League headquarters is that it will be a really exciting time for rugby league. It's a real buzz time for the sport with BBC and Sky sharing the television coverage.

"Ticket sales are up 145 per cent from the last World Cup so hopefully supporters will turn out in numbers to support the teams."