Australian referee Nic Berry won’t be officiating the Super Saturday Six Nations fixture between France and England, World Rugby has confirmed.
The match official is unable to travel to France amid the conflict in the Middle East after the United States and Israel launched military action against Iran on Saturday. Iran retaliated by attacking various American bases in the region, including in the United Arab Emirates.
The situation in the Middle East has obviously impacted international travel, considering hubs in Dubai, Qatar and so on.
Six Nations match official changes
World Rugby match officials are sponsored by Emirates and make use of the airline for international travel.
The sport’s governing body issued a brief statement that Berry would not be taking charge of Le Crunch on the final round of the Six Nations, with Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli now promoted to the main gig after being nominated as the first assistant referee.
“As a result of the travel disruption in the Middle East, there will be a change to the @Emirates World Rugby Match Officials for the France v England match (@SixNationsRugby) on 14 March,” a social media post read.
“Nic Berry (Australia) will not be travelling, and Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) moves to referee with Andrew Brace coming in as assistant referee.”
This is the second Six Nations fixture that Berry has been forced to withdraw from, as he was set to serve as an assistant referee during this weekend’s clash between Italy and England.
Frenchman Pierre Brousset, who tookover as the referee from Andrea Piardi in the first half of Ireland v England after the latter sustained an injury during the match, has moved into the first assistant referee position (AR1) with Scotsman Sam Grove-White joining the officiating team.
France v England is the final game of the 2026 Six Nations, with the Super Saturday kicking off in Dublin with Ireland hosting Scotland at the Aviva Stadium. The second match will see Wales and Italy collide at the iconic Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
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Important detail around referee appointments
The changes from World Rugby are in line with the match official appointment process, which ex-referee Nigel Owens detailed after Piardi’s injury during Ireland v England.
The Welshman explained on the Whistle Watch program that each appointment follows a hierarchy on who will be next in line if an official is unable to fulfil their role.
“It’s not simple making international match official appointments,” Owens explained.
“One, you’ve got to pick the right guy for the game. You’ve also got a balance, then giving people experience to bring the next generation through to challenge referees and also then you’ve got to make sure that you’ve got two assistant referees on the sideline capable of doing the work as well.
“One of those assistant referees, and this will be key, is the number one. So AR1 (assistant referee 1) will also be the reserve referee.
“So if a referee goes down injured, he goes on. If he goes down, then AR2 will go on, don’t ask me if the three of them go down, the TMO is going to come down from the box. Well, it could happen.
“In the game, you would have had two English AR3 and AR4, so they basically just manage and look after the subs. So one of them went on to become AR2 for that game.
“It very rarely happens but it does occasionally, as we saw on the weekend and those are the contingency plans in place.”
2026 Six Nations: Comprehensive TV broadcast guide, how to watch the action anywhere in the world
Updated match details for France v England
Date: Saturday, 14 March, 2026
Kick-off: 21:10 local time (20:10 GMT)
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
TV: ITV, RTE Sport, France Télévisions, SuperSport, Sky Italia, Sky NZ, Stan Sports, Peacock
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (SRU), Andrew Brace (IRFU)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)