Investec Champions Cup match officials: Italian handed final rematch while Matthew Carley gets Leinster v La Rochelle
Matthew Carley and Gianluca Gnecchi get big Investec Champions Cup games.
The Investec Champions Cup returns this weekend, with Round Three taking place from Friday to Sunday, and EPCR has confirmed the match officials who will be on duty.
It has been reiterated that the officials were selected, based on performance, by a committee of selectors chaired by the EPCR Head of Match Officials, Tony Spreadbury.
Eoghan Cross (Ireland) and Luc Ramos (France) blow the first whistles on Friday as the Investec Champions Cup restarts with Castres v Bath and Edinburgh v Gloucester.
Bumper weekend
Pierre Brousset (France) gets Saturday’s fixtures up and running in Pretoria as the Bulls play host to Bristol Bears at Loftus Versfeld in what should be an exciting match.
It is then off to Stade Marcel Michelin for Clermont v Glasgow Warriors as Luke Pearce (England) takes charge of that before two games kick off at 17:30 GMT. They are La Rochelle v Leinster and Sale v Sharks, with Matthew Carley (England) and Ben Breakspear (Wales) handed the respective refereeing duties for those pool games.
Sam Grove-White (Scotland) and Hollie Davidson (Scotland) have been named as referees for Saturday’s late games which are Scarlets v Pau and Leicester Tigers v Bayonne.
A mammoth Sunday of pool action kicks off with Harlequins v Stormers and Toulon v Munster. Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) and Karl Dickson (England) will referee those ties.
It is then a repeat of last season’s Champions Cup final as Bordeaux-Begles collide with Northampton Saints, with Italy’s Gianluca Gnecchi is referee at Stade Chaban Delmas.
Finally, the weekend’s action concludes with another massive game as Andrea Piardi (Italy) referees the Saracens v Toulouse clash at StoneX Stadium to wrap up Round Three.
Investec Champions Cup match officials, Round Three
Friday
Castres v Bath
Venue: Stade Pierre-Fabre
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 GMT)
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ire)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Cole (Ire), Daniel Carson (Ire)
TMO: Leo Colgan (Ire)
Ex-England fly-half claims Finn Russell is being ‘stifled’ at Bath
Edinburgh v Gloucester
Venue: Hive Stadium
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Luc Ramos (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Thomas Charabas (Fra), Jonathan Gasnier (Fra)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)
Saturday
Bulls v Bristol Bears
Venue: Loftus Versfeld
Kick-off: 15:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Jeremy Rozier (Fra), Benjamin Hernandez (Fra)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (Fra)
Clermont v Glasgow Warriors
Venue: Stade Marcel Michelin
Kick-off: 16:15 local (15:15 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (Eng)
Assistant Referees: Joe James (Eng), Jamie Leahy (Eng)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (Eng)
Leinster v La Rochelle
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley (Eng)
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal (Eng), John Meredith (Eng)
TMO: Ian Tempest (Eng)
Sale Sharks v Sharks
Venue: CorpAcq Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Ben Breakspear (Wal)
Assistant Referees: Adam Jones (Wal), Ben Connor (Wal)
TMO: Aled Griffiths (Wal)
Scarlets v Pau
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Sam Grove-White (Sco)
Assistant Referees: Ian Kenny (Sco), Finlay Brown (Sco)
TMO: Dave Sutherland (Sco)
Leicester Tigers v Bayonne
Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Sco)
Assistant Referees: Ru Campbell (Sco), Jonny MacKenzie (Sco)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Sco)
Sunday
Harlequins v Stormers
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
Assistant Referees: Shota Tevzadze (Geo), Amber Stamp-Dunstan (Wal)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wal)
Toulon v Munster
Venue: Stade Felix Mayol
Kick-off: 14:00 local (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson (Eng)
Assistant Referees: George Selwood (Eng), Simon Harding (Eng)
TMO: Hamish Smales (Eng)
Bordeaux-Begles v Northampton Saints
Venue: Stade Chaban-Delmas
Kick-off: 16:15 local (15:15 GMT)
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)
Assistant Referees: Robbie Jenkinson (Ire), Padraic Reidy (Ire)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ire)
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Saracens v Toulouse
Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 17:30 GMT
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)
Assistant Referees: Ru Campbell (Sco), Federico Vedovelli (Ita)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Ita)
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