It’s the penultimate weekend in this year’s Six Nations and England’s Wayne Barnes could end up overseeing an early tournament finish in Dublin. An Irish bonus-point victory would ensure them of the title with one round still to play, but only if England fail to secure a bonus-point win away to France. Jérôme Garcès and Jaco Peyper have the other two fixtures.
Speaking of France, there’s a huge top two match in Montpellier who host Racing 92 with Romain Poite in charge. Down south, a surprisingly competitive Super Rugby series continues with Will Houston refereeing the Friday night Aussie derby between the Rebels and Brumbies in Melbourne. Brendan Pickerill will whistle the big Kiwi derby when the Hurricanes host the Crusaders in Wellington, while Argentinean referee Boli Anselmi heading to Durban with the Sharks v Sunwolves match. Mike Fraser heads the other way, to referee the Jaguares tie-up with the Waratahs.
In England and Wales, neither the Aviva Premiership or PRO14 (on the whole) take a break, but there’s the two semi-finals of the Anglo-Welsh Cup. England’s Karl Dickson (pictured) will take charge of a hotly-anticipated clash between Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Falcons. Wales’ Adam Jones (pictured) has a short trip to Bath who welcome Northampton Saints to the Rec. Nigel Owens picks up the sole rearranged match from last weekend’s PRO14 whiteout as the Scarlets play Leinster.
Enjoy your rugby!
Six Nations, Round 4
Ireland v Scotland
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
ARs: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) & Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
France v England
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
ARs: Angus Gardner (Australia) & Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
Wales v Italy
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
ARs: Pascal Gaüzère (France) & Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Women’s Six Nations
France v England
Referee: Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Wales v Italy
Referee: Marie Lematte (France)
ARs: Ben Breakspear (Wales) & Tom Spurrier (Wales)
TMO: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)
Ireland v Scotland
Referee: Ian Tempest (England)
ARs: Dermot Blake (Ireland) & Glenn Sheridan (Ireland)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
Under-20 Six Nations
Wales v Italy
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Ireland v Scotland
Referee: Ludovic Cayre (France)
France v England
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
World Sevens – Vancouver
Referees: James Doleman (NZ), Paulo Duarte (Port), Craig Evans (Wal), Richard Kelly (NZ), Damon Murphy (Aus), Mike O’Brien (USA), Jérémy Rozier (Fra), Damian Schneider (Arg) & Jordan Way (Aus
Rugby Europe Championship
Spain v Germany
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Ita)
ARs: Andrea Piardi (Ita) & Matteo Franco (Ita)
Romania v Belgium
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Sco)
ARs: Keith Allen (Sco) & Graeme Ormiston (Sco)
Russia v Georgia
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (Eng)
ARs: Anthony Woodthorpe (Eng) & Mike Hudson (Eng)
Super Rugby – Round 4
Melbourne Rebels v Brumbies
Referee: William Houston (Aus)
ARs: Graham Cooper (Aus) & James Leckie (Aus)
TMO: Ian Smith (Aus)
Highlanders v Stormers
Referee: Glen Jackson (NZ)
ARs: Paul Williams (NZ) & Angus Mabey (NZ)
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZ)
Lions v Blues
Referee: Nic Berry (Aus)
ARs: AJ Jacobs (SA) & Jaco Pretorius (SA)
TMO: Willie Vos (SA)
Sharks v Sunwolves
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Arg)
ARs: Egon Seconds (SA) & Archie Sehlako (SA)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)
Queensland Reds v Bulls
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown (NZ)
ARs: William Houston (Aus) & Graham Cooper (Aus)
TMO: Damien Mitchelmore (Aus)
Jaguares v NSW Waratahs
Referee: Mike Fraser (NZ)
ARs: Nick Briant (NZ) & Pablo Deluca (Arg)
TMO: Santiago Borsani (Arg)
Hurricanes v Crusaders
Referee: Brendon Pickerill (NZ)
ARs: Paul Williams (NZ) & Cam Stone (NZ)
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZ)
Pro14
Scarlets v Leinster Rugby
Referee: Nigel Owens
ARs: Ben Whitehouse & Simon Rees
TMO: Neil Hennessey
Anglo-Welsh Cup
Bath v Northampton Saints
Referee: Adam Jones (Wal)
ARs: Wayne Davies (Wal) & Gareth John (Wal)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wal)
Exeter Chiefs v Newcastle Falcons
Referee: Karl Dickson (Eng)
ARs: Tom Foley (Eng) & Robert Warburton (Eng)
TMO: Geoff Warren (Eng)
British & Irish Cup
Nottingham v Ospreys Select
Referee: Neil Chivers (Eng)
ARs: Darryl Chapman (Eng) & Gregory Garner (Eng)
RFU Championship
Ealing Trailfinders v Rotherham Titans
Referee: John Meredith
ARs: Simon Park & Nick Marshall
Hartpury College v London Scottish
Referee: Jack Makepeace
ARs: Michael Patz & Simon Adams
Top 14, Round 20
Montpellier v Racing 92
Referee: Romain Poite
ARs: Sébastien Minery & Jean-Luc Rebollal
TMO: Denis Grenouillet
Toulon v Agen
Referee: Jonathan Dufort
ARs: Laurent Millotte & Laurent Breil
TMO: Patrick Dellac
Pau v La Rochelle
Referee: Cédric Marchat
ARs: Thomas Charabas & Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Laurent Sclafer
Bordeaux-Bègles v Oyonnax
Referee: Pierre Brousset
ARs: Sébastien Boyer & Frédéric Chazal
TMO: Denis Grenouillet
Brive v Clermont
Referee: Adrien Descottes
ARs: Mathieu Noirot & Arnaud Blondel
TMO: Éric Gauzins
Stade Français v Castres
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
ARs: Julien Castaignède & Jacques De Lemos
TMO: Mourad Zitouni
Toulouse v Lyon
Referee: Tual Trainini
ARs: Nicolas Datas &Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Éric Gonthier
