ULSTER’S POTENTIALLY PIVOTAL Champions Cup Pool clash against Saracens next month will be refereed by Jerome Garces, the EPCR announced today.
The Frenchman is an infamous figure in the northern province, after he handed Jared Payne a straight red card for a fourth minute aerial collision with Saracens’ Alex Goode when the sides met in the 2014 Heineken Cup quarter-final. Garces was also the man in the middle for Ireland’s World Cup quarter-final exit against Argentina.
Luke Pearce and Marius Mitrea will take charge of Ulster’s other two remaining Pool 1 fixtures, away and then at home to Oyonnax.
Munster’s postponed round two encounter with Stade Francais will be refereed by Nigel Owens before JP Doyle takes the return leg in Limerick and France’s Alexandre Ruiz gets control of the pool closer away to Treviso.
Connacht’s remaining Challenge Cup pool outings will be taken by England’s Craig Maxwell-Keys (away to Brive) and Tom Foley (home to Enisei).
Leinster’s remaining Champions Cup pool matches against Bath and Wasps will be refereed by and Pascal Gauzere and Mathieu Raynal respectively.
The Champions Cup organisers have also confirmed the dates, times and broadcasters for the concluding two rounds of the pool stage.
All four provinces will all be in action on Saturday 16 January, with Munster given the early start of a 13.00 kick-off at Thomond Park before Leinster host Bath at 17.30 and Connacht take on Brive at 20.45 French time.
Ulster will kick-start the final round of fixtures with a lunchtime kick-off against Oyonnax on Saturday 23 January,, with Leinster saying goodbye to the competition at 15.15 in the Ricoh Arena. Munster take on Treviso on Sunday 24 January, kicking off at 14.oo Italian time, 13.00 back home.
You can see the full list of fixtures and broadcasters here, the Irish provinces are below (all times are Irish kick-off time):
Saturday 9 January
16.45: Stade Francais v Munster (Sky Sports), Champions Cup round 2
Sunday 10 January
13.00: Oyonnax v Ulster (Sky Sports), Champions Cup round 1
Saturday 16 January
13.00: Munster v Stade Francais (Sky Sports), Champions Cup round 5
15.15: Saracens v Ulster (BT Sport), Champions Cup round 5
17.30: Leinster v Bath (Sky Sports), Champions Cup round 5
19.45: Brive v Connacht (FR4), Challenge Cup round 5
Saturday 23 January
13.00: Ulster v Oyonnax (Sky Sports), Champions Cup round 6
15.00: Connacht v Enisei STM (not televised), Challenge Cup round 6
15.15: Wasps v Leinster (BT Sport), Champions Cup round 6
Sunday 24 January
13.00: Treviso v Munster (BT Sport), Champions Cup round 6
He’s not as disappointed as some on relation to how far off they are? They are miles off. No offence to Munster but they are an average,though very gutsy and committed side,and they have hammers Leinster twice in a row now. I do agree that they haven’t had any continuity with combinations,especially from 9-13,and hopefully when the likes of OBrien, Healy, Moore, Teo, McFadden etc come back then there will be a big improvement.
I must take the opportunity to praise Matt O’Connor for the huge improvement in Guinness Pro12 teams. Ever since he arrived at Leinster, every other team has greatly improved. Teams, that two years ago were almost brushed aside by Leinster, have now reached the heights that Leinster once inhabited alone.
Treviso have improved, Munster have improved, Edinburgh have improved, Scarlets have improved, Dragons have improved, Zebra have improved, Connacht (brilliant tonight, by the way) have improved..
In fact, they have all improved so much that Leinster has great difficulty taking on any of them.
By extension, Wasps and Harlequins have shown just how brilliant they are too due to you Matt.
I can hardly wait to see how much Castres get better when they arrive at the RDS soon. They will build statues in your image all over the town.
Matt, you have done European rugby a great service. They have all reached and surpassed Leinster this season thanks to your input at Leinster and everywhere else.
Thank you Matt and Happy New year!.
(and also to Mr Caputo, the news paper seller. Your influence on all other teams has been exceptional)