Peter Allan (Scotland) will signal the return of Euro club rugby action when he referees the Thursday night Round 5 European Challenge Cup meeting between Montpellier and Northampton Saints on 15 January, 2009.

And Joel Jutge is set to resume his European refereeing career following injury when he takes charge of the Round 6 contest between Rugby Rovigo and London Irish on Saturday, 24 January.

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP 2008/09
(All kick-offs LOCAL times)

ROUND 5
THURSDAY 15 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 2 Montpellier v Northampton Saints 20.45 Peter Allan (S) Eurosport France / Sky Sports

FRIDAY 16 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 1 Dax v Rugby Rovigo 19.00 Greg Garner (E)
Pool 2 Toulon v Bristol Rugby 18.30 Neil Paterson (S)
Pool 5 Bayonne v Mont de Marsan 19.30 Alan Falzone (It)

SATURDAY 17 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 1 London Irish v Connacht Rugby 15.00 Andy McPherson (S)
Pool 3 Petrarca Rugby v Bourgoin 15.00 David Wilkinson (I)
Pool 3 Worcester Warriors v Bucuresti Oaks 15.00 Patrick Pechambert (F)
Pool 4 Newcastle Falcons v Brive 19.40 Colin Stanley (I) Sky Sports / France 4
Pool 4 Overmach Parma v El Salvador 14.30 John Paul Doyle (E)

SUNDAY 18 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 5 Saracens v Viadana 15.00 Jerome Garces (F)

ROUND 6

THURSDAY 22 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 4 Brive v Overmach Parma 20.45 Rob Debney (E) France 4

FRIDAY 23 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 1 Connacht Rugby v Dax 18.30 Neil Paterson (S)
Pool 3 Bourgoin v Bucuresti Oaks 20.30 Paolo Ventura (It)
Pool 5 Mont de Marsan v Saracens 19.00 John Lacey (I) Eurosport France / Sky Sports

SATURDAY 24 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 1 Rugby Rovigo v London Irish 15.00 Joel Jutge (F)
Pool 2 Northampton Saints v Toulon 15.00 Tim Hayes (W)
Pool 3 Worcester Warriors v Petrarca Rugby 15.00 Pascal Gauzere (F)
Pool 5 Viadana v Bayonne 19.00 John Paul Doyle (E)

SUNDAY 25 JANUARY, 2009
Pool 2 Bristol Rugby v Montpellier 15.00 Alan Falzone (It)
Pool 4 El Salvador v Newcastle Falcons 12.00 David Rosich (F)

NOTES TO EDITORS:

(a) Match Officials for Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup matches are nominated by an ERC Selection Panel made up of Rob Yeman (WRU), Joel Dume (FFR) and Roy McCombe (SRU).
(b) The nominated referees are drawn from the European 2008/09 referees' panel.
(c) The nominations are submitted to the ERC Match Officials Sub Committee made up of Referee Managers from the six Unions of the participating teams, who review and confirm the final appointments.
d) The performance of match officials are reviewed by Performance Reviewers ((PR) at ERC games.
e) Head Coaches / Directors of Rugby are invited to submit their comments and feedback to the ERC Match Officials Sub Committee on the performances of Match Officials in their games.

Peter Allan (Ecosse) donnera le coup de sifflet de la reprise de l'European Challenge Cup lorsqu'il arbitrera le premier match de la 5e Journée le jeudi 15 janvier 2009 au soir à l'occasion de la rencontre entre Montpellier et les Northampton Saints.