Career
His refereeing days began in the Munster Schools Cup competitions, before being appointed to some key European club games in 2008, as well as gaining promotion to the Institutional Review Board Assistant Referee Panel in 2009. In 2010, he was on the Institutional Review Board referee panel for the 2010 Institutional Review Board Junior World Championship in Argentina – refereeing 4 fixtures including the semi-final between South Africa and New Zealand. During 2014 fitness testing he was recorded as the fastest rugby referee on the Institutional Review Board panel.
Lacey was part of the refereeing panel at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
He refereed the Scotland–England match in the 2016 Six Nations Championship.