Rugby News

Limerick rugby referee to take charge of Investec Champions Cup fixture

January 3, 2025

LIMERICK rugby referee Eoghan Cross is set to take charge of his first Investec Champions Cup fixture later this month.

Young Munster clubman Cross will make his Investec Champions Cup referee debut when he takes control of the Pool 3 clash between Stade Français Paris and Northampton Saints at Stade Jean Bouin.

He first took up refereeing with the Munster Association of Referees (MAR) for the 2016/17 season.

This was after a successful playing career which saw him play in the All-Ireland League with Young Munster from 2011-2013. Cross also played Ireland Schools in 2011 and was a member of the Munster Rugby sub-Academy for the 2011/2012 season.

Cross refereed his first professional match in the URC in May 2022 after being appointed to take charge of the URC Round 18 clash between Benetton and Cardiff Rugby at the Stadio Monigo.

The Limerick referee has progressed swiftly through the refereeing ranks. He became a member of the IRFU National Referee Panel in the 2018/19 season while the following season, he was an assistant referee for the first time in both the URC and EPCR competitions.

He later became a member of the IRFU High Performance Referee Panel and refereed his first U20 Six Nations match and the AIL final between Clontarf and Terenure at the Aviva Stadium.

Cross was appointed to referee his first World Rugby-appointed internationals last summer, leading teams of match officials in Tokyo and at the Pacific Nations Cup.

A member of the IRFU’s High Performance panel since 2022, he was appointed as an assistant referee for the Japan-England clash in Tokyo in June before refereeing the meeting of a Japan XV and the Maori All-Blacks a week later.

Cross was also involved in the revamped Pacific Nations Cup, taking charge of Canada v Japan in Vancouver in August and performing assistant referee duties the following Saturday when the USA hosted Canada in LA.

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