Gnecchi handed Champions Cup curtain-raiser as referee appointments confirmed for opening weekend

Gianluca Gnecchi will blow the first whistle of the 2026/27 Investec Champions Cup season, having been appointed to referee the curtain-raiser between Gloucester and reigning champions Bordeaux-Bèglès at Kingsholm on Friday, 16 October.

The 34-year-old Italian, who made his Champions Cup debut two years ago and has since accumulated 10 senior international appointments, shares a long history with Italy’s leading referee Andrea Piardi. The two grew up in Brescia, regularly facing each other as players for the city’s two rival clubs before those sides merged when both were 18, turning opponents into teammates — and eventually colleagues in the officiating world.

“Brescia had two rugby teams and we played against each other for a long, long time until the clubs merged when we were 18 years old and we started to become team-mates,” Gnecchi said in a recent World Rugby interview. “I’d been refereeing two years by then and I brought him into the group when he expressed an interest in refereeing. It is because of me he started!”

Gnecchi added that Piardi’s rapid rise through the ranks — which has included a British and Irish Lions Test in 2025 and the Australia vs South Africa clash in Perth — served as direct motivation for his own ambitions. “Seeing him go so well and getting big appointments made me think, ‘why can’t I do the same?’ It was very inspirational for me.”

Piardi himself will oversee Bath’s home tie against TOP 14 finalists and EPCR Challenge Cup holders Montpellier Hérault Rugby at The Rec on the opening Saturday.

Karl Dickson, who refereed last season’s Investec Champions Cup Final, has been appointed for Munster vs Racing 92 at Thomond Park. Fellow Englishman Matthew Carley, who took charge of last season’s EPCR Challenge Cup Final, will referee Leinster’s away trip to ASM Clermont Auvergne as the URC champions and last season’s Champions Cup runners-up begin their pursuit of a fifth European title. A third Englishman, Christophe Ridley, has been assigned to Bulls vs Stade Français Paris.

The remainder of Saturday’s card sees Craig Evans referee Sale Sharks vs Glasgow Warriors, Sam Grove-White oversee La Rochelle vs Lions, Kevin Bralley take charge of Stormers vs Bristol, and Pierre Brousset handle Connacht vs Saracens.

On Sunday 18 October, Hollie Davidson will referee six-time Champions Cup winners Toulouse as they open their campaign at home to former champions Exeter Chiefs. The opening weekend concludes at Franklin’s Gardens, where Gallagher Premiership champions Northampton Saints host Cardiff.