Northern | US

Refereeing teams for Champions Cup semi-finals confirmed


Referee Nika Amashukeli of Georgia during the Investec Champions Cup match between Bristol Bears and Union Bordeaux Begles at Ashton Gate on January 18, 2026 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Comments
2 Comments

The officiating teams for the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals have been confirmed, with Luke Pearce and Nika Amashukeli getting the nod.

ADVERTISEMENT

For Leinster’s clash with Toulon on May 2 at the Aviva Stadium, England’s Pearce has been appointed as referee. He will be supported by fellow Englishman Christophe Ridley and Scotland’s Sam Grove-White as assistant referees.

The television match official (TMO) role for that meeting will be Ian Tempest.

The following day, champions Bordeaux-Bègles’ contest with Bath in the second semi-final will be overseen by Georgian referee Amashukeli, who officiated last year’s final as the Bordelais triumphed over Northampton Saints in Cardiff.

VIDEO

He will be joined by Italy’s Gianluca Gnecchi and Ireland’s Eoghan Cross as assistant referees, while Ben Whitehouse takes on TMO duties.

Bordeaux are aiming to be the sixth side to defend their European title, but they must overcome the reigning English champions Bath, who are looking to reach their first final since being crowned champions of Europe in 1998.

Fixture
Investec Champions Cup
Leinster
29 - 25
Full-time
Toulon
All Stats and Data

Leinster, meanwhile, will be looking to reach their fourth final in five years and to add a fourth star to their jersey. They will enter the match in Dublin as strong favourites against a Toulon side that produced a surprise quarter-final victory over United Rugby Championship leaders Glasgow Warriors in Scotstoun. The Top 14 outfit do have pedigree in the competition, winning an unprecedented three consecutive titles between 2013 and 2015.

Elsewhere, France’s Pierre Brousset will officiate Ulster’s Challenge Cup meeting with Exeter Chiefs at at Affidea Stadium, while Andrew Brace will take charge of Sunday’s semi-final between Montpellier and Dragons at Septeo Stadium.

ADVERTISEMENT

Brousset will be supported by assistant referees Luc Ramos and Craig Evans in Belfast, with Eric Gauzins working as TMO. Karl Dickson and Filippo Russo will serve as assistants to Brace for the second semi-final, with Olly Hodges the TMO.

Related

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

2 Comments
M
Mitch 46 days ago

He’s a top ref, Luke Pearce. He played his role in ensuring the Ireland vs Scotland 6 Nations game was as good as it was.

S
SB 46 days ago

Two good referees for the Champions cup semi finals.

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

K
KwAussie 11 minutes ago
Is the magic thread of Super Rugby in need of a new pattern?

The trouble with the idea of a transfer of players is that as it stands is no New Zealand player hoping to become an All Black will be willing to go to Australia where the coaching is so poor and where self entitlement, poor culture and poor leadership means they will regress in their skills and not be welcome in the ABs. Looking at the games in the weekend, most of the passing between the NZ sides went in front of the player so the receiver was running onto it. Most of the passes from the Australian team went to a player standing still or behind or above one who was moving forward. Kicking from the 9’s was in most cases aimless and not contested. Why would a Kiwi player hoping to be an AB want to go into that sort of environment where their skill set would deteriorate so badly.

Nick and everyone else can go on and on about the players and how the international focus is killing the games, but what’s really killing the game in Australia is the wasting of money on League wannabees who don’t understand the game and can’t actually offer anything for the first 3 years of their time back in rugby. JAS is still lost in both defence and attack and while he’s a big strong player who can be dangerous if given space, he has no idea on how to create space for his outside backs and misses opportunities on both attack and defence because he doesn’t understand the game. Lomax is the same and unfortunately for both of them, good teams will not give them the space they need and so they will continue to look very ordinary.



...

42 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Copied to clipboard

Share Article close