The 45-year-old Welshman is the most experienced referee in the Guinness PRO12 and this appoinment will mark the fifth occasion that he has taken change of the Championship Final.
It has been a landmark year for the official who made his 150th appearance in the Guinness PRO12 at Judgement Day, while two weeks ago he refereed his sixth European Cup Final at Edinburgh’s BT Murrayfield.
The rest of the match-day officials will be assistant referee 1 David Wilkinson (IRFU) while running the opposite touchline will be Ian Davies from Wales while Neil Paterson (SRU) will serve as Television Match Official.
Owens made his first appearance in the Celtic League when he took charge of Border Reivers v Connacht on August 30, 2002.
Since then Owens has gone on to take charge of four Finals in the Championship and Six European Cup Finals. Following on from Alain Rolland, Owens became the second referee from the Guinness PRO12 to referee a World Cup Final in 2015 when he oversaw New Zealand versus Australia at Twickenham.
Nigel Owens career statistics:
Guinness PRO12 Championship
• 151 Appearances
• 62 appearances ahead of George Clancy (2nd highest on 89)
• 4 Finals: 2016; 2015; 2014; 2011
• 111 Yellow cards
• 6 Red cards
• 16 Penalty tries
• 6,078 points have been scored in his 151 games
That’s an average of 40 points per game
• 653 tries have been scored in his 151 games
That’s an average of 4.3 tries per game
European Competition
• 111 total appearances
• 100 games in the European Cup
International Competition
• 76 Test games
• 17 Six Nations
• 12 Rugby Championship
• 1 RWC Final: 2015
3 World Cups: 2007; 2011; 2015
The Guinness PRO12 Final takes place on May 27 at Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Fans can guarantee their place by booking their tickets via www.ticketmaster.ie
