Andrew Brace to referee 2020 Pro14 Final

Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Andrew Brace is to referee this weekend’s Guinness PRO14 Final between Leinster and Ulster.

The 32-year-old, who previously joined us on the Advantage Over podcast last year, will make his 55th Championship appearance when the game kicks off at 1935 on Saturday.

It caps an impressive season for the the Irish official who was chosen as an assistant referee for the Rugby World Cup in Japan, received his first Guinness Six Nations appointment in February and follows up his first knock-out appearance in the PRO14 Championship with this selection.

Brace, a member of the IRFU panel of High Performance referees, made his Guinness PRO14 debut in 2015 and earned further recognition at the Junior World Championships and U20 Six Nations the following year. Having taken charge of the Leinster v Munster semi-final last weekend, Brace is in line to make his ninth appearance of the season.

Fellow Irish officials, Frank Murphy and George Clancy will assist on the sides, with Brian MacNiece, the Television Match Official.

Greg Garner, Elite Referee Manager for PRO14 Rugby, said, “Over the past number of years we have gathered more performance data on our match officials and created more stringent review processes to push our referees to the highest standards. As a result we now have a number of world class referees within our system who we could have appointed to the final.”

“Andrew has taken significant steps forward in his career over the last 12 months and his performances warrant his selection for this weekend’s Guinness PRO14 Final. It is vital that we put young refereeing talent in a position to succeed and Andrew’s rise is very rewarding for the tournament and for the referee structures in the IRFU.

“I would like to congratulate all the match officials involved and wish them all the best of luck for this weekend.”

Good luck Andrew!

Leinster v UlsterGuinness PRO14 Final
Aviva Stadium, Dublin (KO 7.35pm)

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU, 55th appearance)
ARs: Frank Murphy (IRFU) & George Clancy (IRFU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)