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Pro 12: From Players to Referees

On Friday night, Welsh official Craig Evans will hold the whistle at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast where Ulster host Italy' Zebre.

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The following day Scottish official Mike Adamson will then become the first-ever former Pro 12 player to referee a game in the Championship when he takes charge of Munster vs Benetton Treviso at Thomond Park.

Twenty-four hours later, Frank Murphy will become the second former Pro 12 player-turned-referee when he oversees the clash between Newport-Gwent Dragons and Edinburgh at Rodney Parade.

All three officials have gone through the Pro 12 Referees Pathway and their profiles, plus a full listing of Referee Appointments for Round 9, are listed below.

Craig Evans (Wales) – Ulster vs Zebre

Evans took charge of four games in last summer's Junior World Championships in Manchester and has also refereed three games in the Under-20 Six Nations.

He officiated at four games in the Anglo-Welsh Cup since season 2013/14 and 21 games in the British & Irish Cup including last year's final between Yorkshire Carnegie and London Welsh, making him the most experienced British & Irish Cup referee.

•Test history: refereed Malta vs Israel in April 2016

•Named Principality Welsh Premiership Referee of the Year in 2015

•Full-time referee with the Wales

•Has just been appointed onto world Rugby's Sevens World Series for season 2016/17

Mike Adamson (Scotland) – Munster vs Benetton Treviso

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Adamson will become the first former player to have both played in and refereed in the Pro 12.

*He has been refereeing in the World Sevens tournaments since 2014 and was also an official in the Olympics in Rio this summer.

*Has been in charge of two games in this season's Anglo-Welsh Cup, Saracens vs Newcastle and Dragons vs Scarlets.

*Gained international experience this season refereeing matches in the Currie Cup in South Africa and in PRO D2, the French second division.

•Played for Scotland at 30 IRB Sevens tournaments and at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi

•Played for Scotland during the 2005 Under-21 World Championships in Argentina at flyhalf/fullback

•Has previous Pro 12 experience having come off the bench for Glasgow Warriors against Newport Gwent Dragons at Firhill in January 2008

Frank Murphy (IRFU) – Newport-Gwent Dragons vs Edinburgh

Murphy will become the second former Pro 12 player to referee a game having appeared in his 94th and final Pro 12 game in May 2014, which capped a career spanning a decade with Munster and Connacht.

He also had a spell with Leicester Tigers in the Premiership.

Test history: refereed Germany vs Portugal test match in the second tier Six Nations last February

*Took charge of Wales vs Italy in Under-20 Six Nations in March.

*Officiated at seven games in the British & Irish Cup over the last two seasons.

•Represented Ireland at Under-21 level and at A level in the Churchill Cup

•Appeared for Ireland senior team in an uncapped game vs Barbarians at Gloucester in 2008

•Spent two seasons with Leicester Tigers, appearing in three finals with them in April/May 2007, scoring a try in their Premiership Final victory over Gloucester, playing in Heineken Cup final when they lost to Wasps a week later.

*Also in Tigers team that won Anglo-Welsh Cup against Ospreys at Twickenham

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