Andrea Piardi will become the first Italian to referee a United Rugby Championship (URC) final after the match officials were announced on Monday.
Piardi is in the middle for Saturday’s mouth-watering URC meeting between the Stormers and Munster, which takes place at DHL Stadium in Cape Town.
The 30-year-old, who was recently named in the match officials set to feature at the Rugby World Cup later this year, only made his league debut in 2019.
Refereed Glasgow v Munster clash
Piardi has now made 35 appearances and seven in EPCR competitions, with this his second URC knockout game this season having refereed Glasgow v Munster.
The Italian’s assistant referees will be Mike Adamson (Scotland) and Craig Evans (Wales), with Ben Whitehouse (Wales) named as television match official.
“It is the biggest day of the season for the teams and the same is true for our referees,” said Tappe Henning, URC Head of Match Officials, ahead of the game.
“We have a very competitive group of senior officials, so the independent selection panel has had a lot to consider.
“In the URC we have to balance neutrality and performance and Andrea fits nicely into those categories.
“We have seen strong displays from him this season backed up by confident decision-making and clear communication.
“I would like to congratulate Andrea on this important selection and I look forward to seeing him in action in Cape Town.”
The @vodacom #URC Grand Final is !
All available tickets were sold in under 3⃣ hours through Ticketpro.
This will be a record attendance for a DHL Stormers match. The Faithful are ready to bring the gees! 🥳#iamastormer #dhldelivers #thefaithful #UnitedWeRise pic.twitter.com/t2ph05dxzb
— DHL Stormers (@THESTORMERS) May 18, 2023
Stormers v Munster
Date: Saturday, May 27
Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Kick-off: 18:30 local (17:30 BST, 16:30 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant Referees: Mike Adamson (SRU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
READ MORE: URC: Munster depart for Stormers showdown with fully-loaded squad as several key players return
Article courtesy of
Source link
