Peter Fitzgibbon will get the final two rounds of Pool matches of the 15th Heineken Cup season up and running when the Irish referee takes charge of the Round 5 Pool 2 clash between Glasgow Warriors and Newport Gwent Dragons at Firhill on Friday, 15 January.
ERC, the tournament organisers, today (Tuesday, 5 January, 2010) announced the referee appointments and additional broadcast coverage for the remaining 24 Pool matches.
Three referees - Alan Lewis, Alain Rolland and Chris White - have each already controlled over half a century of Heineken Cup matches with Welsh official Nigel Owens next in line to join the elite 50-match club. It will be Heineken Cup match No 46 for Owens when he travels to France for the Sunday showdown between triple tournament champions Toulouse and Harlequins.
The nominated referees are drawn from the ERC 2009/10 Match Officials' panel, with the nominations proposed by Donal Courtney, the ERC Match Officials Performance Manager, to the ERC Match Officials Sub Committee.
The committee is made up of Referee Managers from the six Unions of the participating teams, who review and confirm the final appointments.
The performance of match officials will be reviewed by the ERC Match Officials Performance Manager, together with a panel of Performance Reviewers (PR). Head Coaches / Directors of Rugby are invited to submit their comments and feedback to the ERC Match Officials Performance Manager on the performances of Match Officials in their games.
ROUND 5
FRIDAY 15 JANUARY, 2010
POOL 2 Glasgow Warriors v Newport Gwent Dragons 19.30 - Peter Fitzgibbon (I)
POOL 4 Ulster Rugby v Edinburgh 20.00 - Christophe Berdos (F)
SATURDAY 16 JANUARY, 2010
POOL 1 Benetton Treviso v Munster 14.35 - Chris White (E)
POOL 2 Gloucester Rugby v Biarritz Olympique 15.00 - George Clancy (I)
POOL 3 Leicester Tigers v Viadana 14.00 - James Jones (W)
POOL 3 ASM Clermont Auvergne v Ospreys 16.45 - David Pearson (E)
POOL 4 Stade Français Paris v Bath Rugby 14.30 - Alan Lewis (Ir)
POOL 5 Cardiff Blues v Sale Sharks 15.45- Romain Poite (F)
POOL 6 Leinster v Brive 18.00 - Andrew Small (E)
SUNDAY 17 JANUARY, 2010
POOL 1 Northampton Saints v Perpignan 15.00- Alain Rolland (I)
POOL 5 Toulouse v Harlequins 16.00 - Nigel Owens (W)
POOL 6 Scarlets v London Irish 12.45 - Jerome Garces (F)
ROUND 6
FRIDAY 22 JANUARY, 2010
POOL 1 Munster v Northampton Saints 20.00 - Romain Poite (F)
POOL 1 Perpignan v Benetton Treviso 21.00 - Peter Allan (S)
SATURDAY 23 JANUARY, 2010
POOL 3 Viadana v ASM Clermont Auvergne 14.35 - Andrew Small (E)
POOL 3 Ospreys v Leicester Tigers 13.35 - Alan Lewis (I)
POOL 4 Bath Rugby v Ulster Rugby 15.45 - Jerome Garces (F)
POOL 4 Edinburgh v Stade Français Paris 15.45 - Wayne Barnes (E)
POOL 6 Brive v Scarlets 19.00 - Peter Fitzgibbon (I)
POOL 6 London Irish v Leinster 18.00 - Nigel Owens (W)
SUNDAY 24 JANUARY, 2010
POOL 2 Biarritz Olympique v Glasgow Warriors 13.45 - David Pearson (E)
POOL 2 Newport Gwent Dragons v Gloucester Rugby 12.45 - Christophe Berdos (F)
POOL 5 Harlequins v Cardiff Blues 15.00 - George Clancy (I)
POOL 5 Sale Sharks v Toulouse 15.00 - Alain Rolland (I)
