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It's 7-up for Owens as he gets Champions Cup final nod
By Online Editors
Nigel Owens of Wales and Ireland’s Andrew Brace have been appointed to referee the 2020 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals respectively following a meeting of a selection committee chaired by EPCR’s head of match officials, Joel Jutge.
The vastly-experienced Owens will be taking charge of his seventh Heineken Champions Cup final, and his ninth European club decider in all, when Exeter Chiefs go head-to-head with Racing 92 at Ashton Gate on Saturday week, October 17.
Owens, who will be in the middle for his 115th tournament match, will have Scotland’s Mike Adamson and Craig Evans of Wales as his assistants, while Ian Davies, also of Wales, has been appointed as TMO.
Owens' appointment completes his quick return to prominence after he sat out the quarter-final stages of the tournament, a lay-off followed by him getting the semi-final featuring Racing and Saracens in Paris.
He is set to create history next month when he becomes the first person to take charge of 100 Test matches, taking charge of France versus Italy in the Autumn Nations Cup in late November two weeks after he is set to officiate at England against Georgia.
Meanwhile, the Challenge Cup final meeting of Bristol Bears and RC Toulon in Aix-en-Provence on Friday week, October 16, will see Brace refereeing his first European final after taking charge of last month’s Guinness PRO14 decider. Brace will be assisted by Frank Murphy and George Clancy, also of Ireland, with Brian McNeice as TMO.
Challenge Cup final – Bristol Bears v RC Toulon
Friday, October 16 – Stade Maurice-David, Aix-en-Provence (21.00)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ire); Assistant referees: Frank Murphy (Ire), George Clancy (Ire); TMO: Brian McNeice (Ire)
Heineken Champions Cup final – Exeter Chiefs v Racing 92
Saturday, October 17 – Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol (16.45)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wal); Assistant referees: Mike Adamson (Sco), Craig Evans (Wal); TMO: Ian Davies (Wal)
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Latest Comments
Well deserved for a young talented, bright and humble player.
Go to commentsCane shouldn’t have been one last year, based purely on performances. Lakai is as close to a like for like of swap of Savea you’re ever likely to find, based on his short career so far at least. He has many of the same qualities - very strong ball carrier, great at the breakdown, and an absolute work horse on defence. I feel like he and Sititi could lead the way in the loose at the next WC.
I think we have become obsessed with replacing Kaino with someone exactly like him. Kaino was a perfect foil for the other loose forwards we had at the time. Based on the talent we have around at the moment those players could be made up in the aggregate by three players who are all exception all rounders - Lakai, Sititi, and Savea. Missing some height for sure but Sititi’s defensive work in the line out last year was phenomenal. He gets off the ground so quickly and was able to steal a couple of balls off the top of the springbok line out.
If our young locks coming through can actually stay fit long enough to get selected, it seems inevitable that Va’ai could end up in a hybrid 6/lock role.
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