Ref Watch: Ugh

Cardiff Blues’ Guinness Pro14 clash away at Edinburgh on Friday night will be refereed by experienced Irish official George Clancy.

It will be the 43-year-old’s 123rd game in the competition, having taken charge of his first game in the then Celtic League on the 15th October 2004, a 6-14 away win for Newport Gwent Dragons over the Border Reivers.

In that time he has taken charge of 26 Cardiff Blues league games, although our record in games he has officiated is not good. 17 of those games have been at home with eight wins and nine losses coming from them, while the nine games on the road have seen us win just twice, with seven defeats.

The most recent occasion we have seen Clancy was last month when he was in the middle for our loss away at Leicester Tigers in the European Challenge Cup, while his last league outing with us was last February when we went down to Glasgow Warriors at the Arms Park.

He has refereed this specific fixture just once previously, way back in October 2006 when tries from Tom James, Xavier Rush and Ben White, as well as the boot of Ben Blair, secured a 13-23 Cardiff Blues win.

So far this season the Irishman has taken charge of six games across the Pro14, Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup, resulting in seven home wins and three away wins. He has shown six yellow cards and just one red.

Clancy will be assisted by fellow Irishman Mark Patton and Scottish official Ian Kenny, while Leo Colgan, also of Ireland, will act as the TMO.

Statistics from cardiffrfcfans.com