Rhys Thomas gets things underway this evening when he takes charge of Italy Under 20 v France in Sicily. He is closely followed by Neil Hennessey who takes charge of the Portugal v Romania FIRA international match in Lisbon. The following week Hennessey also takes charge of the Ireland v England Under 20 match in Athlone
Nigel Owens kicks off his RBS 6 Nations campaign in Italy on Sunday where France are the visitors. He will referee the game and will be supported on the touchline by Leighton Hodges who makes his bow in the senior RBS 6 Nations.
Hodges will also undertake assistant referee duties at the Scotland v Italy and England v France matches.
Owens will act as assistant referee in the Ireland v England and England v Italy games before refereeing the closing match of the tournament in France where Scotland are the visitors.
Ian Davies who last week refereed his first ‘A’ international match between Ireland and England will take charge of Scotland v Ireland Under 20s and the FIRA international between Romania and Georgia in Bucharest.
Gareth Simmonds will act as TMO in Owens’ opener Italy v France while Nigel Whitehouse will act as TMO in the England v Scotland and Ireland v France fixtures.
Whitehouse who is responsible for Performance and Development of Referees within Wales said. “We have real strength in depth within the principality now and this is reflected in the appointments of all those named to referee both on the European and world stage.
“They have all worked extremely hard and have been rewarded on the back of their performances on the field, the conveyor belt of top quality referees coming out of Wales continues to function at the highest level.”
