Barnes to ref Munster’s Euro tie

ENGLISHMAN Wayne Barnes will referee a Heineken Cup match involving Munster for the fourth time when the defending champions take on Welsh side Ospreys at Thomond Park on Easter Sunday next, April 12.

That game kicks off at 1pm and will be followed at 3.30pm by the clash of Harlequins and Leinster at the Stoop, where Nigel Owens of Wales will be in control. England’s Chris White will set the quarter-finals in motion — and move to within one match of a half century of tournament fixtures — when he takes charge of the clash between Cardiff and Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, April 11.

And while the leading English referee controls his 49th Heineken Cup fixture, Irish official Alan Lewis will be taking his tally to 59 matches later that afternoon at the Walkers Stadium as Leicester Tigers face Bath.

Wayne Barnes first handled a Munster game in Europe in October 2006 when they defeated Bourgoin 41-23 at Thomond Park. Earlier this season, he was in charge at the same venue last October as the home side scraped through their opening game by 19-17 against Montauban and again when Munster salvaged a crucial bonus point when going down to Clermont Auvergne in Clermont.

Barnes will forever be remembered in New Zealand as the referee who they claimed missed a forward pass from Damien Traille to Freddie Michalak in the move that ended in the decisive try for Yannick Jauzion as they crashed to a World Cup quarter-final defeat in Cardiff in October, 2007. If Barnes was at fault, it was by the slimmest margin and he has gone on to establish a reputation as one of the best young referees in the game. He won’t be 30 until April 30 and has officiated at 17 Heineken Cup games.

Nigel Owens has been a lucky referee for Irish teams over the years. Munster who won all five matches under his control last season including the quarter-final against Gloucester, semi-final against Saracens and the final against Toulouse. Again this season, he handled the game at Thomond Park in which Munster hammered Sale Sharks by 37-14. Furthermore, he was also the referee when Leinster disposed of Wasps by 41-11 last October and awarded only four penalties against Ireland in their recent RBS Six Nations defeat of France.