England head coach Steve Borthwick has spoken about the differences between how Premiership umpires and Test level umpires officiate kicks and scrums ahead of England’s upcoming Six Nations campaign.
“The nature of the breakdown is run differently in international rugby, the nature of the scrum is run differently in international rugby,” Borthwick said. “It is important that teams have the opportunity to attack for penalties [but] We see too many scrums to participate in the competition. I love Scrum competition and I don’t want it to leave our game.
“Sometimes what we do is we take that competition away a little bit by wanting the ball in and out and if the ball doesn’t stay up then we play away and we don’t have another scrum. We know test rugby isn’t like that. Test rugby is a scrum is a competition, as we develop that we play World Cup. As we understood according to our cost in the Cup semi-final.
“The dispersal is also a big competition. British referees; The way they referee in the Premier League is they have a high speed of the ball and they want the ball to come out without that break. In the Premiership the area around the ball is clean because if it is not clean there is a penalty.
“It’s different in Test rugby. In Test rugby this area is not so clean and the back row becomes one of the biggest notes I examine in every session, every match, every tournament. “When it comes to distribution, everyone has a responsibility, but the back rows are important,” he said.
Who are the referees for the 2024 Six Nations?
Karl Dickson will referee next year’s opening Six Nations match between France and Ireland in Marseille, one of four English officials to call for the men’s championship fixture.
Matthew Carley, Luke Pearce and debutant Christophe Ridley will join Dickson to referee men’s Six Nations matches next year, making the quartet of English officials the largest contingent from a single country.
The news comes as an opportunity for officials at the England game following the retirements of Wayne Barnes and Tom Foley, who featured in the World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand and subsequently received death threats.
In addition to Ridley, who will be responsible for France hosting Italy in Lille, Frenchmen Pierre Brousset and Andrea Piardi will also participate in the championship for the first time; Andrea Piardi will become the first Italian official to referee a men’s Six Nations match when he leads Ireland against Wales in Dublin.
Premier referee Adam Leal will also start the men’s Six Nations match as an assistant referee, with Ian Tempest filling the void left as television match official in Foley’s absence.
New Zealand’s Paul Williams will referee England’s first match against the Azzurri; compatriot James Doleman will take charge of the match against Wales; Andrew Brace will officiate the Calcutta Cup; Georgia’s Nika Amashukeli will blow the whistle to host Ireland at Twickenham before Australia’s Angus Gardner closes out the tournament at Le Crunch.
Williams and Doleman’s compatriot Ben O’Keeffe will referee Scotland’s trip to Cardiff, avoiding a date with France. French captain Antoine Dupont said the Kiwi was “not ready for the challenge” of refereeing after France lost to the Springboks in the World Cup quarter-final.
When Pearce also leads Wales against France at the Principality Stadium, he will become the third Englishman to umpire in 50 Tests, after Wayne Barnes and Chris White.
2024 Six Nations appointments
first round
Friday, February 2: France v Ireland
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Judge: Karl Dickson (Eng)
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Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Carley (Eng)
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Assistant Referee 2: Jordan Road (Aus)
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TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wal)
Saturday, February 3: Italy v England
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Judge: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
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Assistant Referee 1: Nic Berry (Australia)
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Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Brousset (France)
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TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
Saturday, February 3: Wales – Scotland
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Judge: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
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Assistant Referee 1: James Doleman (New Zealand)
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Assistant Referee 2: Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
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TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
second part
Saturday, February 10: Scotland v France
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Judge: Nic Berry (Australia)
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Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
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Assistant Referee 2: Jordan Road (Aus)
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TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ire)
Saturday, February 10: England v Wales
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Judge: James Doleman (New Zealand)
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Assistant Referee 1: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
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Assistant Referee 2: Hollie Davidson (Sco)
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TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
Sunday, February 11: Ireland v Italy
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Judge: Pierre Brousset (France)
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Assistant Referee 1: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
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Assistant Referee 2: Luc Ramos (France)
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TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)
third round
Saturday, February 24: Ireland v Wales
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Judge: Andrea Piardi (Ita)
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Assistant Referee 1: Karl Dickson (Eng)
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Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
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TMO: Eric Gauzins (Italy)
Saturday, February 24: Scotland v England
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Judge: Andrew Brace (Ire)
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Assistant Referee 1: Chris Busby (Ire)
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Assistant Referee 2: Cross of Eoghan (Ire)
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TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)
Sunday, February 25: France v Italy
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Judge: Christophe Ridley (Eng)
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Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Carley (Eng)
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Assistant Referee 2: Craig Evans (Wal)
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TMO: Ian Tempest (Eng)
fourth round
Saturday, March 9: Italy v Scotland
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Judge: Jaco Peyper (SA)
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Assistant Referee 1: Karl Dickson (Eng)
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Assistant Referee 2: Adam Leal (Eng)
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TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SA)
Saturday, March 9: England v Ireland
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Judge: Nika Amashukeli (Geography)
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Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Piardi (France)
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Assistant Referee 2: Craig Evans (Wal)
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TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wal)
Sunday, March 10:Wales v France
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Judge: Luke Pearce (Eng)
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Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Brace (Ire)
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Assistant Referee 2: Damian Schneider (Arg)
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TMO: Ian Tempest (R)
fifth round
Saturday, March 16: Wales v Italy
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Judge: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
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Assistant Referee 1: Chris Busby (IRFU)
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Assistant Referee 2: Morné Ferreira (SARU) T
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TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)
Saturday, March 16: Ireland v Scotland
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Judge: Matthew Carley (RFU)
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Assistant Referee 1: Karl Dickson (RFU)
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Assistant Referee 2: Christophe Ridley (RFU)
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TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
Saturday, March 16: France v England
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Judge: Angus Gardner (RA)
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Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amaşukeli (GRU)
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Assistant Referee 2: Damian Schneider (UAR)
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TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)