New Zealand's Bryce Lawrence will referee the Super 15 rugby final after he was today rewarded for being the best whistleblower in the competition.
The Sanzar referee selection team gave Lawrence the nod for the final after their ratings of the 16-strong referees squad were backed up by the coaches of the Super 15 franchises.
"It was really pleasing that our selections were confirmed by the feedback received from the coaches," said Sanzar game manger Lyndon Bray.
Lawrence will also control Saturday's semifinal qualifier between the Crusaders and Sharks in Nelson as part of plan to prevent the referee in charge of the final spending three successive weeks on the sidelines.
Team coaches rated their top five referees in the competition as part of a performance review and those results were used in conjunction with the selectors' assessments to pick the referees for the playoffs.
Chris Pollock will take charge of the first semifinal qualifier between the Blues and the Waratahs in Auckland on Friday night.
The South African pair of Jonathan Kaplan and Craig Joubert will control both semifinals next week, with Kaplan travelling to Brisbane to whistle the Reds' match and Joubert staying in the republic to take the charge of the Stormers' match in Cape Town.
"In terms of the four selected, I am delighted for each of them, as they have all worked incredibly hard to deliver the best possible outcomes for the teams and the game in this competition," Bray said.
