Referees Corner – Issue 2 – 2025/26 – Munster

Welcome to this week’s referee’s corner for this game between Leinster and Munster.

Today’s match referee is Gianluca Gnecchi of Italy. Gnecchi was born in Brescia Italy, and refereed in Italy and in the Six Nations Under 20s Championship before making his Pro14 refereeing debut in the match between Zebre and Benetton on 30 August 2020, where he was assisted by fellow Brescian referee Andrea Piardi. Gnecchi refereed the 2023 Rugby World Cup qualifiers in South America, refereeing the match between Brazil and Chile on 11 July 2021. This is his fourth time refereeing Leinster, having refereed Dragons v Leinster in 2023 and Lions v Leinster in 2004 and Leinster v Ulster  in 2025. He is assisted today by Peter Martin and Jonathan Erskine of the USRFR. Stefano Penne of FIR is the TMO. We wish them all well.

IRFU National Panel

During the summer, after some excellent performances on the IRFU development group, Ciarán O’Flynn and Ethan Lyon were promoted to the IRFU National Referee Panel. We also saw Jack MacNeice move into the Level 2 Panel. Euan O’Riordan and Ryan Deacon will be on the IRFU development group this season. Leinster have 16 referees on this years IRFU national panel which is great to see and a testament to the hard work being put into our coaching and education processes. 

Law Trials 

On 14 November 2024, World Rugby Council agreed to implement the following Global Law Trials for new competitions/leagues starting after 1 January 2025.  These come into play for the domestic season in Ireland from August. 

The following were not approved for progression

• One stop maul
• Mark from a kick off/restart
• 20 minute red card replacement – decision deferred to 2025

The Global Law Trials Being Introduced Are:

• Quicker Conversions – Aimed at improving game flow and reducing delays. This allows for 60 seconds for a conversion to take place. 
• Time Limit for Lineout Formation – Teams will now have a maximum of 30 seconds to form a lineout, aligning with existing scrum time limits
• Cleaner Play Away from the Breakdown – Stricter enforcement around off-the-ball play at rucks, mauls, and scrums to improve player welfare
• Uncontested Lineouts: Not Straight = Play On – In uncontested lineouts, throws not straight will now result in play continuing, rather than a turnover. I did hear a number of shouts for crooked in when touch judging last week. Will that disappear? 

The IRFU have made an excellent video to support the above available at https://youtu.be/VpdNMIyuyro

The IRFU also confirmed its continued commitment to player safety with the announcement that the legal tackle height will remain below the level of the sternum. This decision follows the successful completion of the two-season Tackle Behaviours trial across the domestic game and reflects the Union’s focus on reducing head contact and encouraging safer tackling techniques.

Plenty to look out for this season.

Want to get involved? 

Referees provide a vital function in servicing all levels of the game. Refereeing is also a fantastic hobby and is increasingly becoming a genuine alternative to playing the game.

Whether you have aspirations to referee at the highest level or to referee locally, there is a place for you. There are excellent support structures in place to develop referees and a thriving social aspect too.

Feel free to make contact with the Leinster Rugby Referees at brendan.conroy@leinsterrugby.ie  If you are interested in becoming a referee get in contact with us through our Facebook, our website www.leinsterrugbyreferees.ie or through X @leinsterreferee.