Wayne Barnes has been handed the responsibility of officiating Munster’s Heineken Cup quarter-final next month. The English referee will call the shots when the defending champions take on the Ospreys at Thomond Park on April 12th.
Barnes has come in for criticism for his handling of Munster’s pool matches against Montauban and Clermont in this campaign, when his interpretation of the breakdown and ruck areas led to Munster conceding a host of kickable penalties.
Nigel Owens of Wales will take charge of Leinster’s meeting with Harlequins later that day while Irish official Alan Lewis will be in action 24 hours earlier when Leicester and Bath clash at the Walkers Stadium. The match will be Lewis’s 59th European Cup game.
England’s Chris White has been awarded the Cardiff and Toulouse game at the Millennium Stadium.
Heineken Cup quarter-finals
Saturday, April 11th
Cardiff Blues v Toulouse, Millennium Stadium, 3.30pm, Chris White (England)
Leicester Tigers v Bath Rugby, Walkers Stadium, 6pm, Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Sunday, April 12th
Munster v Ospreys, Thomond Park, 1pm, Wayne Barnes (England)
Harlequins v Leinster, Twickenham Stoop, 3.30pm, Nigel Owens (Wales)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/IMNWKIX5DFFCFE5CD5NLBU6EVY.png)