ANDREW BRACE is one of rugby’s most experienced referees to step foot on the field.
And he’ll be the man in the middle for Scotland’s Six Nations match against Wales.
Andre Brace will be in charge of Scotland vs WalesRex
Find out more about Brace’s career below.
Who is Andrew Brace?
Born on June 15, 1988, Andrew Brace was raised in Cardiff, Wales but lived in Ireland throughout his early life.
The high-profiled ref began playing rugby at age 12, however, Brace would balance his time on the field with playing the violin.
But his passion for rugby heightened after being appointed as rugby community officer for Munster Rugby in 2010.
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He then won Munster Rugby Referee of the Year four years later, before taking charge of his first European competition encounter between Gloucester and Zebre in 2014.
And since then, Brace has been the man in the middle for many international matches which includes officiating Wales’ 2021 Six Nations clash against Italy.
Who has Andrew Brace played for?
Brace spent most of his playing career representing Irish outfit Old Crescent.
And during that time, the Six Nations referee got the call-up to play for Belgium having qualified to represent them through his father’s family.
Andrew helped Belgium to win the 2012 Emirates Cup of Nations before taking part in the European Nations Cup First Division between 2012 and 2014.
However, Brace’s playing career was unfortunately cut short after failing to recover from a run of injuries.
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Why was Andrew Brace removed from referee duty in France?
Brace came under fire for his performance in England’s Autumn Nations Cup final victory over France in 2020.
And he was then removed from a Champions Cup clash in Toulouse the following weekend due to personal abuse he received online.
Speaking about the death threats, Brace said: “As well as the death threats, I had people telling me never to come back to France again.
“I had more than a thousand messages on Instagram and someone made a parody profile of me on Twitter just to abuse me.”