Irish Rugby : News : Summer Appointments For Irish Referees

Ireland's John Lacey will referee his first ever RBS 6 Nations match in February, while Alain Rolland is also included in the Elite Panel in what is his last season.

The IRFU and Munster are pleased to announce that Conor Murray has signed a new two-year contract with the IRFU which will see him remain at Munster until at least June 2016.

On Friday, November 15 the IRFU Charitable Trust hosted a lunch kindly sponsored by Aon at the Clyde Court Hotel, Lansdowne Road. The lunch raises much needed funds for the IRFU Charitable Trust which supports seriously injured players.

John Lacey has been pencilled in for two refereeing appojntments, including the Scotland v Samoa clash in Durban, with his Munster colleague George Clancy taking charge of Argentina v Georgia at a venue to be confirmed.

The vastly experienced Alain Rolland, meanwhile, will referee the second Test between New Zealand and France in Christchurch in mid-June.

The International Rugby Board have also announced the match officials for the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, which begins on June 1 and concludes on July 6.

The refereeing ppointments were made by the IRB Match Official Selection Committee following a comprehensive review of performances during the recent RBS 6 Nations and other fixtures.

New Zealand's Chris Pollock, Craig Joubert from South Africa and France's Romain Poite will take charge of the three Australia v Lions Test matches.

Pollock will referee the first Test in Brisbane on June 22, with Joubert refereeing the second Test in Melbourne on June 29 and Poite the final Test in Sydney on July 6.

Other referees who will take charge of matches during the tour include Steve Walsh (ARU), who has been appointed to the tour opener between the Lions and the Barbarians in Hong Kong, Glen Jackson (NZRU), Jaco Peyper (SARU) and Jérôme Garcès (FFR).

IRB Match Official Selection Committee Chairman, IRB Council member and former Scotland and Lions flanker John Jeffery said: "The British & Irish Lions tour will be one of the highlights of 2013 as far as international rugby is concerned and looks set to be another hard-fought and compelling series.

"The IRB is committed to promoting the very best refereeing standards at the elite level of the game.

"The continued priority is the promotion of consistency and performance and following a comprehensive selection process, the committee has appointed three highly experienced match referees for the Test series."

The selection system allows for movement in and out of the panel based on form and rewards the top performers and young referees who have graduated through the performance pathway ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

Each referee performance in every international match is reviewed in minute detail, both by an independent assessor and by the referee himself.

All performances are then used by the selectors as a basis for choosing the right match officials for the next round of Test matches.

IRB MATCH OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS - MAY-JULY 2013

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