Two Welsh junior rugby teams got a surprise last weekend when Six Nations referee Andrew Brace stopped by to officiate their match.
The official took charge of Ospreys v Benetton on Saturday, March 4, but was still feeling fresh enough to pay a visit to Tonna RFC the following morning, where he was tasked with refereeing their under-7s side as they took on Taibach RFC in a game of tag rugby.
Brace, who was born and bred in Cardiff but is assigned to the Irish Rugby Union, was recently the man in the middle for Wales' Six Nations defeat to Scotland, but enjoyed a change of pace as he oversaw the contest and provided some words of wisdom to the youngsters starting their rugby journey.
However, the visit wasn't completely out of nowhere, as the referee has a connection to Tonna RFC, with his brother Laurie Brace coaching the Neath club's under-7s team.
Laurie, who took up coaching at the beginning of the season after his son started playing rugby, had previously invited his brother and fellow referee Craig Evans to the club for an interactive training session with the children, and was able to welcome him again just hours after he'd overseen a dramatic 80 minutes at the Swansea.com Stadium.
"I managed to get hold of my brother and Craig when they were over in Australia in September and when they were back they came down to do a training session with the club, which was really good," he said. "It was a variety of age groups and we had a little Q&A afterwards and the kids really enjoyed it.
"Then it was a few weeks ago when he messaged me and said he was down to referee the Ospreys game on Saturday night. I told him we were playing at home on the Sunday and asked if he fancied coming down. And from that, he offered to come down and ref the game, which obviously we knew would be great."
Brace's cameo delighted both teams while parents and rival coaches on the sidelines were also impressed to see a Test referee, who has also officiated at a Rugby World Cup, jogging around the pitch in his official IRFU training wear.
While he'd been kept busy in the Ospreys game the night before, however, the referee was kept on his toes throughout the game as he dealt with a new level of rugby.
"He said during the match that he didn't know what was more straining on the body, the Ospreys match or trying to organise 16 children of that age," said Laurie. "It was certainly a bit of a challenge for him.
"But he really enjoyed the game and said it was lovely to see so many kids enjoying their rugby. He thought there was some really good skills on show from both sides, and he said he'd be more than happy to do it again when he's free to come back."
Brace moved between Wales and Ireland during his youth and worked across the Irish Sea as a community officer for Munster before moving into refereeing. As a result, he is assigned to the Irish Rugby Union and can therefore take charge of Wales matches despite being born here.
He also played international rugby for another nation, Belgium, who he qualified for through his father's family, helping them to victory in the 2012 Emirates Cup of Nations, while he also played for the country's sevens team before his career ended due to a string of injuries.
He began refereeing Test matches in 2017 and has gone on to serve at the World Cup and Six Nations as a touch judge, before taking full charge of games at the Six Nations in 2021, overseeing Scotland's historic win over England at Twickenham.
READ NEXT:
