ANDREW BRACE HAS been appointed to referee Saturday’s Guinness Pro14 final between Leinster and Ulster at the Aviva Stadium [KO 7.35pm, eir Sport and TG4].
He will be assisted by Frank Murphy and George Clancy, with Brian MacNiece acting as the television match official.
Saturday will be 32-year-old Brace’s first Pro14 final. He has been a rising star for the IRFU in recent years and was an assistant referee at the Rugby World Cup in Japan last year.
The Cardiff native, who refereed his first Pro14 game in 2015, has been heavily involved in recent weeks as the Pro14 has restarted.
Having been in charge for last weekend’s semi-final between Leinster and Munster, Brace will now be on the whistle for the decider too.
“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,” said Greg Garner, the Pro14′s elite referee manager.
“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.”
