George Clancy is set to referee his first full International this weekend when South Africa take on Italy in Cape Town on Saturday.  This comes at the end of a very successful season for George after refereeing the England v Barbarians game at the beginning of June, and different stages of the Heineken Cup. This success followed on from last year when he refereed the England Saxons and the New Zealand Maori in the Barclays Churchill Cup Final.  

The Bruff man who was awarded Munster Referee of the Year in 2007 was promoted to the IRB World Elite Panel of Referees in April, joining Alain Rolland and Alan Lewis on the International Referee Panel.

Fellow Munster man, Peter Fitzgibbon from Thomond RFC, will officiate the IRB Junior World Championship final between New Zealand and England this Sunday in Swansea.  Fitzgibbon, who recently picked up the 2008 Munster Referee of the Year award, has the honour of officiating the inaugural final of the Junior World Championship.

Both Fitzgibbon and Clancy are forging successful referee careers, and have plenty to look forward to in the future. Their achievements highlight the success of the referee development programmes that are in place in Munster and Ireland.   

If you are interested in refereeing, the next Munster Association of Referees course is taking place in Mallow GAA Club, Cork, on September 14th. 

For further details contact:

North Munster: John Cole, jcole@limerickcity.ie, 086-8441870

South Munster: Dave McHugh, david.mchugh@irfu.ie, 086-3806638