O'Brien for NPC Final

Top referee paddy O'Brien of Invercargill will referee the 2004 NPC Final between Wellington and Canterbury in Wellington on Saturday evening. It will be his fourth NPC Division 1 Final.

Paul Honiss of Hamilton will referee the promotion-relegation match between Northland, the bottom side in Division 1 and Nelson Bays, the winners of Division 2. The match will be played in Nelson on Saturday afternoon.

A former police detective, O'Brien, who is 45, is a great friend of South African André Watson. On Saturday O'Brien will referee the NPC Final, Watson the Currie Cup Final. O'Brien got his provincial break-through in 1988, two years after Watson started refereeing. In 1991 he started refereeing Division 1

In 1993 O'Brien refereed his first representative Final - Wanganui vs Horowhenua in Division 3.

In 1996, 1998 and 2002 O'Brien refereed Division 1 finals - Auckland against Counties, Otago against Waikato and Waikato against Auckland.

In 1995 he refereed the Super 10 Final between Transvaal and Queensland in Johannesburg and in 1998 the Super 12 Final between the Blues and the Crusaders.

1998 was a good year. O'Brien started it with a Five Nations match between Scotland and France, did the Super 12 Final - a difficult appoint for a New Zealand referee as usually one of the teams is from New Zealand - South Africa against Wales, the Division 1 Final and England against South Africa - amongst other matches.

O'Brien said that he was "Looking forward to the final immensely".

The referees for Saturday are:

Division I & II - Promotion-Relegation

Nelson Bays v Northland
Referee: Paul Honiss (Waikato)
Touch judges: Lyndon Bray (Wellington), Bryce Lawrence (Bay of Plenty)
Television match official: Chris Pollock
Assessor: Alan Riley

NPC Division 1 Final

Wellington v Canterbury, Wellington
Referee: Paddy O'Brien (Southland)
Touch judges: Steve Walsh (North Harbour), Kelvin Deaker (Hawke's Bay)
Television match official: Gary Wise
Assessor: Stuart Beissel