Owens to referee Munster showdown with Gloucester

WELSH referee Nigel Owens will handle Munster’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against Gloucester in 15 days’ time (ko 5.30pm).

Owens has officiated at two of Munster’s Heineken Cup pool games this season: Munster v Clermont Auvergne (round 2) and Munster v Wasps (round 6), and he has been given many of the glamour fixtures in the tournament this season, including Leicester v Toulouse (round 3) and Saracens v Biarritz (round 5). He also handled the Six Nations match between France and Ireland in Paris last month.

Ireland’s Alain Rolland will handle the Exiles’ quarter final against Perpignan on the same day as Munster’s game, while Alan Lewis will referee the Saracens/Ospreys quarter final. England’s Wayne Barnes will officiate the Toulouse-Cardiff clash.