United Rugby Championship Grand Final match officials confirmed
Barnet, United Kingdom. 14th Jan, 2023. EPCR Challenge Cup. Saracens V Lyon OU. StoneX Stadium. Barnet. Andrea Piardi (Referee, ITA) shows the yellow card to Dylan Cretin (Lyon, 6) during the Saracens V Lyon OU EPCR Heineken Champions Cup, Round 3, pool A
The match officials for the United Rugby Championship Grand Final between the Bulls and Glasgow Warriors have been confirmed, with Andrea Piardi named as referee.
Piardi’s appointment sees him given the honour for the second successive season after he refereed the 2023 final between the Stormers and Munster in Cape Town.
This year he will hold the whistle for the Loftus Versfeld clash as this season’s third and fourth-ranked sides duke it out for the United Rugby Championship trophy.
45th league appearance
31-year-old Piardi impressed in last year’s final and was part of the match officials team for the Rugby World Cup in France. He also recently debuted in the Six Nations for the match between Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
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Piardi has been a familiar face in the URC play-offs in the past three seasons and this marks his sixth appointment for a knockout tie in that time spell. Saturday’s Grand Final between the Bulls and Glasgow will be his 45th league appearance.
He is joined at Loftus Versfeld by Frank Murphy (IRFU) and Craig Evans (WRU), who will be the assistant referees, while Matteo Liperini (FIR) is the Television Match Official. The team boasts the combined experience of 188 league games.
Due to a policy of neutrality for match official appointments for the Grand Final, no South African or Scottish referees could be considered for Saturday’s meeting.
Bulls v Glasgow Warriors
Date: Saturday, June 22
Venue: Loftus Versveld Stadium, Pretoria
Kick-off: 18:00 local (17:00 BST, 16:00 GMT)
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 45th league game)
Assistant Referees: Frank Murphy (IRFU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
Live on: SuperSport, Premier Sports, RTÉ, Flo Rugby & URC.tv