Poite named as referee for Dublin clash

Poite angered Scottish supporters when he disallowed a try by Stuart Hogg in the RBS Six Nations Championship match with Wales in Cardiff this year. He later apologised to Hogg, which was of little consolation to the Hawick teenager as it deprived him of emulating the last teenager to start for Scotland, Jim Renwick, by touching down on his Test debut.

However, Poite is recognised as one of the leading referees in Europe and will take charge of his 50th European match in the Irish capital. His assistants will be Jerome Garces and Pascal Gauzere. Englishman Wayne Barnes – recently dropped from the elite international panel – will handle the other semi-final between Clermont Auvergne and Leinster.

Over 37,000 tickets have already been sold for the Dublin showdown with Edinburgh quickly selling out their 2,000 requested allocation by yesterday’s deadline, while just 22,000 have gone for the other game, to be staged in the 34,000-capacity Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux on Sunday, 29 April.

Tickets are still available, priced from €30, for the Edinburgh v Ulster match at: www.ticketmaster.ie/erc