Three Irish Referees Appointed For RBS 6 Nations
Three Irish officials have been appointed to the Referee panel for the 2009 RBS 6 Nations while another two members of the referee fraternity will serve on the Assistant Referee and TMO panels.
Rugby World Cup Final referee Alain Rolland and renowned international referee Alan Lewis have been joined on the panel of referees for the RBS 6 Nations by George Clancy.
The Bruff clubman was appointed to the World Elite panel in April 2008 and took charge of England v Barbarians as his first international game before going to South Africa for their game against Italy during the summer tour series.
Clancy’s first RBS 6 Nations will be a Valentine’s day to remember as he takes charge of France against Scotland on February 14 at the Stade De France.
The three will be joined at the RBS 6 Nations by Simon McDowell and Peter Fitzgibbon who have both received Assistant Referee and TMO appointments.
Rolland, McDowell and Fitzgibbon will all be involved when France host Wales for the first ever Friday night kick-off in the RBS 6 Nations on February 27.
In other appoinments, Ireland’s opening game against France will be in the charge of Nigel Owens, and the game against Italy sees Chris White refereeing.
Ireland’s games against England and Scotland will have a South African flavour as Craig Joubert and Jonathan Kaplan take charge while the final game against Wales will provisionally be refereed by Steve Walsh, subject to a fitness assesment as he missed the November series.
RBS 6 Nations 2009 Referee Appointments:
DATE/TIME MATCH VENUE REFEREE AR1 AR2 TMO
7 Feb 15.00 England v Italy Twickenham, London M. Lawrence J. Jutge P. Allan N. Whitehouse
7 Feb 17.00 Ireland v France Croke Park, Dublin N. Owens D. Pearson D. Changleng G. De Santis
8 Feb 15.00 Scotland v Wales Murrayfield, Edinburgh A. Rolland C. White R. Debney G. Warren
14 Feb 16.00 France v Scotland Stade de France, Paris G. Clancy W. Barnes T. Hayes G. De Santis
14 Feb 17.30 Wales v England Millennium Stadium, Cardiff J. Kaplan A. Lewis P. Fitzgibbon S. McDowell
15 Feb 15.30 Italy v Ireland Stadio Flaminio, Rome C. White N. Owens R. Poite G. Hughes
27 Feb 21.00 France v Wales Stade de France, Paris M. Lawrence A. Rolland S. McDowell P. Fitzgibbon
28 Feb 15.00 Scotland v Italy Murrayfield, Edinburgh N. Owens G. Clancy R. Poite N. Whitehouse
28 Feb 17.30 Ireland v England Croke Park, Dublin C. Joubert C. Berdos P. Allan G. De Santis
14 Mar 16.00 Italy v Wales Stadio Flaminio, Rome A. Lewis D. Pearson D. Changleng G. Warren
14 Mar 17.00 Scotland v Ireland Murrayfield, Edinburgh J. Kaplan W. Barnes C. Damasco H. Watkins
15 Mar 15.00 England v France Twickenham, London S. Dickinson N. Owens T. Hayes N. Whitehouse
21 Mar 14.15 Italy v France Stadio Flaminio, Rome A. Rolland S. Dickinson P. Fitzgibbon G. Hughes
21 Mar 15.30 England v Scotland Twickenham, London J. Jutge (TBC) C. Berdos S. McDowell C. Damasco
21 Mar 17.30 Wales v Ireland Millennium Stadium, Cardiff S. Walsh (TBC) W. Barnes D. Pearson R. Poite