Irish official to ref URC final, SA's Marius van der Westhuizen in TMO booth

Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) official Andrew Brace will referee Saturday's United Rugby Championship final between the Stormers and Bulls in Cape Town.

Brace, who was born in Wales but referees for the IRFU, will be assisted by three South African officials - Jaco Peyper and AJ Jacobs as assistant referees and Marius van der Westhuizen as television match official (TMO).

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The standard of refereeing has been a hot topic of discussion in this year's URC, and the officials will no doubt be under pressure in the season's grand finale.

This will be Brace's second league final, having also handled the 2021 PRO14 showpiece between Leinster and Ulster in Dublin.

Brace, who turns 34 on Wednesday, made his league debut in September 2015 when he took charge of a match between Cardiff and Zebre. Since then, he has gone on to referee knock-out matches in the PRO14, Champions and Challenge Cups.

In 2018, Brace refereed his first Tier One international (Argentina v Wales), before being appointed as an assistant referee for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and made his Six Nations debut in 2020 (France v Italy).

Saturday's clash at Cape Town Stadium kicks off at 19:30.