White to referee Magners Final

The inaugural Magners League Grand Final between Leinster and the Ospreys will be refereed by English match official Chris White.

The inaugural Magners League Grand Final between Leinster and the Ospreys will be refereed by Chris White, it was announced on Friday.

Englishman White takes charge of the May 29 fixture at the RDS, his eighth game in the competition with his previous Celtic record including the 2003 final at Millennium Stadium when Munster beat Neath.

White will lead an international team of officials appointed to the game – Scotsmen Andy Macpherson and David Changleng will be his Assistant Referees, whilst to ensure impartiality, two Munster Branch IRFU appointees, Leo Colgan and Dermot Moloney, will act as 4th and 5th Officials respectively. Scotland's Jim Yuille, completes the group as Television Match Official (TMO).

The Guinness Premiership's most experienced referee, White has clocked up 179 games in charge since making his debut in England's top flight in October 1994. He will be familiar with the concept of a Grand Final having taken charge of two Premiership finals, in 2004 and 2005

He has more than 50 Heineken Cup matches to his name, including three finals, the all French affairs of 2003 and 2005, and Munster's victory over Biarritz Olympique at the Millennium Stadium in 2006, as well as officiating at the Rugby World Cup semi-final in 2003.

White will be backed up by an experienced team; his Assistant Referees- Andy Macpherson and David Changleng – have refereed more than 50 Magners League games between them and are both named on the IRB Assistant Referee Panel, whilst Jim Yuille is an IRB TMO Panel member.

Magners League Final Officials

Referee: Chris White (England – 8th Magners League game)
Assistant Referees: Andy Macpherson (Scotland) David Changleng (Scotland)
4th Official: Leo Colgan (Munster)
5th Official: Dermot Moloney (Munster)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)