IRISH REFEREE ANDREW Brace will take charge of Saturday’s Pro14 quarter-final between Ulster and Connacht, after the panel of officials for the end-of-season play-offs were confirmed. 

Brace, who officiated Connacht’s famous victory in Belfast earlier this season, will again be the man in the middle as the provinces go head-to-head for a place in the Pro14 semi-finals.

Andrew Brace will be in charge in Belfast this weekend. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

He will be assisted by touch judges John Lacey and George Clancy at Kingspan Stadium [KO 5.35pm, eir Sport/Premier Sports], with TMO Olly Hodges completing an all-Irish team of officials.

At Thomond Park, Nigel Owens will referee Munster’s quarter-final against Benetton [KO 3pm, eir Sport/Premier Sports] as Johann van Graan’s side bid to set-up a last-four showdown with Leinster for a second year running.

Owens’ Welsh colleagues Ben Whitehouse and Dan Jones will run the lines in Limerick, with Ian Davies on TMO duty. 

The appointments were chosen by the Pro14′s selection committee, headed by elite referee manager Greg Garner, as a panel of 11 referees were chosen for the final series games. 

Garner said the overriding criteria for selection for the knockout games, including the Pro14 semi-finals and final, will be performance and capability.  

“Our analysis and grading of our referees has improved greatly and along with the referee managers from our unions, we have worked hard to remove subjectivity from our review and selection process,” he said. 

“We have a clear picture of who our best performing officials are and they have earned the right to be involved in the biggest games of the season.

Pro14 referees Mike Adamson, Marius Mitrea, Frank Murphy and Nigel Owens. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

“With so much at stake in these games, it is vital that we put the best referees in charge and that they are leading a team of four that includes the Assistant Referees and TMO. The support of the team was a key point of our recent camp and the guys are fully aware that this is the best way to ensure the right calls.”

Pro14 play-offs referees panel: 

• Nigel Owens (WRU)
• Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
• Ian Davies (WRU)
• Dan Jones (WRU)
• Johnny Lacey (IRFU)
• Andrew Brace (IRFU)
• Frank Murphy (IRFU)
• Sean Gallagher (IRFU)
• George Clancy (IRFU)
• Marius Mitrea (FIR)
• Mike Adamson (SRU). 

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