Karl Dickson will be heading to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 4th February to officiate the first game of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations when Wales takes on Ireland.
Along with our partners at ACME whistles, we caught up with Karl to find out a little more about his journey to the Six Nations, and how being a player has helped him in his officiating career.
“I have only refereed one Six Nations game previously which was Scotland v France last year so it’s a massive privilege to be able to referee the first game of the Six Nations and launch the tournament,” he said.
“When I became a referee, the goal was to referee a World Cup but within that goal was to referee tier one games at the big tournaments.
“The Six Nations is up there as one of the best tournaments in the world so to be part of it in general is a massive privilege.
“For me personally coming from playing then getting into refereeing a lot later than everyone else probably makes it a little bit more special because I’ve only been refereeing top level games for around six years.”
When asked if he feels there are going to be more eyes on this as the opening game of the tournament, Karl said: “I don’t think so. I imagine it would be the same as any Six Nations tournament or game because you have England playing Scotland the same day.
“I don’t think you can ever get bored of watching these six teams play each other because it’s such a special occasion with sell-out crowds across the whole tournament. I think each game from the opener to the final one will be really special.”
When talking about the difference between the Six Nations and premiership games Karl went on to say: “When we prepare for premiership games most of the time we’ve seen the guys a lot across the year and then European games again we still might see them.
“But when you go to the international level you might not have seen some of the players for quite a while.
“I refereed Ireland in July but the last time I refereed Wales was probably two years ago, so I’ve got to do a little bit more preparation in and around what to expect.
“We have a fabulous analyst called Kate Burke who puts a presentation together for us around lineouts, scrums, kick offs to help prepare the team of officials.”
Preparation for the Six Nations began weeks ago explains Karl: “I’ve already started the preparation in my head. When I go out and referee on a weekend I’m almost thinking to myself ‘right I’m trying to referee as if this was a World Cup or a Six Nations game’.
“People wonder what the difference is because they assume I referee the same way at every game, but there are slight nuances. In a premiership game I might use everybody’s first name because I’m used to dealing with them, but in the Six Nations or in an international I might not know all their names, so I change my style.
“For example, I might use the colour or the number. So rather than calling someone’s name I’ll say ‘red 10 come here please’. I know it doesn’t sound a lot but getting into a habit of doing this ahead of the tournament helps to get my mind set into that system.
“The only two names I always maintain are the captains and both nines just because the nines are integral to speeding up the game.”
The week before the game, Karl will go to a World Rugby camp along with other referees from around the world.
“On the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to the first game we have a World Rugby camp with all the referees from around the world, as well as the selectors and coaches,” he explains.
“We have a discussion around what’s expected and what we’re looking to do for the Six Nations coming up so obviously part of our preparation will be done there as well.”
Karl retired from playing Premiership rugby in 2017 and said that there are some benefits to having been a player when it comes to refereeing.
“I’ve played against a lot of the guys I’m now refereeing and the benefit of refereeing people you’ve played with is that you already have a relationship with them so sometimes you don’t need to have the long conversations – it might just be a look or a word and they’re on the same wavelength as you.
“I also think you get a bit of credibility in the bank because you’ve been there and done it.” .
When asked if he is a better referee because he previously played, Karl replied: “It’s not a must to have played in order to be a world class referee, but I think it’s helped me because I’ve been part of the game, I’ve seen something in front of me thousands of times.
“Within refereeing you can do every law exam in the world but the actual experience of going out and refereeing is what builds your experience.
“Also just being around other referees really helps.
“I’ve taken so much from conversations with people like Wayne Barnes, Matt Carr, Luke Pearce, Christophe Ridley within the domestic world and then Nick Berry, Jaco Peyper the Roman Poite from the international world.
“You take snippets and tips from each and incorporate them into your game and that really helps you develop.
“You can blow the whistle and get the penalty right or wrong but it’s about how you interact with people, how you talk to people, how you manage people.
“That comes from experience and being a people person.
“You probably don’t get that from playing rugby. That comes more from having conversations around rugby, speaking to people and being part of it.”
You can watch Karl in action at the Wales v Ireland game on 4th February at 2.15pm.
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