After last week’s grand finale of the Nat West 6 Nations (congrats Ireland) and a series of controversial RWC qualifying matches in Europe, it feels much calmer this week as domestic European rugby returns to join the Super Rugby bandwagon.
Rugby Europe is meeting tomorrow (Friday) to look at the referee assessors report and the full circumstances around their own appointing of Romanian officials to oversee last Saturday’s Belgium v Spain match. With the home side winning, Romania, therefore, qualified for next year’s World Cup. The European authority had apparently declined to change the officials’ team, provide a TMO or match clock when the asked by the Spaniards in the days before the game was played. World Rugby are keeping a very close eye on proceedings and could still force a replay if they feel so inclined. In the same way we criticised World Rugby for sending in Marius van der Westhuizen to oversee a training session, we remain bemused why Rugby Europe wouldn’t have considered the implications of this appointment, especially when the requests were made. Rugby is built around the integrity of everyone involved, and the game was not served well by the whole affair. It’s the referee who is in the glare of the spotlight when he shouldn’t be.
Straying back to on-field matters this weekend, there’s a full suite of Super Rugby fixtures. After his extra week off, van der Westhuizen will be in Cape Town to referee the Stormers match against the Queensland Reds.
Ireland’s George Clancy (pictured) makes a step closer to his centenary of Pro14 appointments as he referees Connacht v Edinburgh. At the other end of the scale, Craig Evans gets his second match refereeing Glasgow v Zebre. In the Aviva Premiership, Wayne Barnes gets back into domestic action after a busy 6 Nations, overseeing Bath v Exeter on Friday night and table-topping Montpellier host Castres in the French Top 14 with Pascal Gaüzère overseeing matters.
Super Rugby
Melbourne Rebels v Sharks
Referee: Shuhei Kubo (Jpn)
ARs: Nic Berry (Aus) & Damon Murphy (Aus)
TMO: Ian Smith (Aus)
Crusaders v Bulls
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Arg)
ARs: Nick Briant (NZ) & Richard Kelly (NZ)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (NZ)
Stormers v Queensland Reds
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (SA)
ARs: Egon Seconds (SA) & Rasta Rasivhenge (SA)
TMO: Christie du Preez (SA)
Sunwolves v Chiefs
Referee: Will Houston (Aus)
ARs: Aki Aso (Jpn) & Tasuku Kawahara (Jpn)
TMO: Minoru Fuji (Jpn)
Jaguares v Lions
Referee: Jamie Nutbrown (NZ)
ARs: Paul Williams (NZ) & Pablo Deluca (Arg)
TMO: Santiago Borsani (Arg)
Hurricanes v Highlanders
Referee: Mike Fraser (NZ)
ARs: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ) & Richard Kelly (NZ)
TMO: Shane McDermott (NZ)
Pro 14
Connacht v Edinburgh
Referee: George Clancy – 99th tournament appointment
ARs: David Wilkinson & Shane Kierans
TMO: Kevin Beggs
Glasgow v Zebre
Referee: Craig Evans – 2nd tournament appointment
ARs: Ian Davies & Adam Jones
Dragons v Cheetahs
Referee: Nigel Owens – 163rd tournament appointment
ARs: Ben Whitehouse & Mike English
TMO: Jon Mason
Munster v Scarlets
Referee: Marius Mitrea – 79th tournament appointment
ARs: Andrea Piardi & Manuel Bottino
TMO: Matteo Liperini
Ospreys v Leinster
Referee: John Lacey – 69th tournament appointment
ARs: Andrew Brace & Frank Murphy
TMO: Simon McDowell
Cardiff Blues v Ulster
Referee: Mike Adamson – 19th tournament appointment
ARs: Sam Grove-White & Dunx McClement
TMO: Andrew McMenemy
Southern Kings v Benetton Treviso
Referee: Quinton Immelman – 10th tournament appointment
ARs: JD Jadezweni & Rodney Boneparte
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Aviva Premiership
Bath v Exeter Chiefs
Referee: Wayne Barnes
ARs: Tom Foley & Paul Dix
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors
Referee: Andrew Jackson
ARs: Steve Lee & Peter Allan
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Saracens v Harlequins (played at London Stadium)
Referee: Tom Foley
ARs: Anthony Woodthorpe & Jonathan Healy
TMO: Graham Hughes
London Irish v Gloucester
Referee: Matthew Carley
ARs: Adam Leal & Paul Burton
TMO: David Sainsbury
Newcastle Falcons v Northampton Saints
Referee: JP Doyle
ARs: Ian Tempest & Hamish Smales
TMO: Sean Davey
Leicester Tigers v Wasps
Referee: Luke Pearce
ARs: Craig Maxwell-Keys & Jack Makepeace
TMO: David Grashoff
Greene King Championship
Bristol v Yorkshire Carnegie
Referee: Karl Dickson
ARs: Sara Cox & Simon Adams
Richmond v Hartpury College
Referee: John Meredith
ARs: Bill Burton & Lionel Spooner
Bedford Blues v Doncaster Knights
Referee: Christophe Ridley
ARs: Nigel Carrick & Gregory Garner
Ealing Trailfinders v Nottingham
Referee: Simon Harding
ARs: Nick Marshall & Brian Ravenhill
Jersey Reds v Rotherham Titans
Referee: Michael Hudson
ARs: Darryl Chapman & Michael Patz
Cornish Pirates v London Scottish
Referee: Dean Richards
ARs: Clare Daniels & Ian Bibey
Top 14, Round 22
La Rochelle v Bordeaux-Bègles
Referee: Tual Trainini
ARs: Cédric Marchat & Éric Soulan
TMO: Maxime Chalon
Stade Français v Toulouse
Referee: Romain Poite
ARs: Sébastien Minery & Patrick Pechambert
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure
Pau v Oyonnax
Referee: Alexandre Ruiz
ARs: Mathieu Noirot & Bruno Gabaldon
TMO: Mourad Zitouni
Montpellier v Castres
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère
ARs: Julien Castaignède & Akim Hadj Bachir
TMO: Éric Briquet-Campin
Toulon v Clermont
Referee: Ludovic Cayre
ARs: Jonathan Dufort & Jean-Luc Rebollal
TMO: Denis Grenouillet
Lyon v Racing 92
Referee: Pierre Brousset
ARs: Adrien Descottes & Jean-Claude Labarbe
TMO: Éric Gonthier
