Who is Wales vs Ireland referee Karl Dickson? Former scrum halves of the Harlequins who officiate at Six Nations

WALES vs Ireland opens Six Nations 2023 with what could become a thriller

The big opener takes place at Principality Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with a familiar face officiating.

1

Who is Karl Dickson?

Karl Dickson was born in Salisbury in 1982.

He started playing rugby at Barnard Castle School before graduating from Coventry University.

He then progressed through the academy system of championship team Bedford Blues where he made his debut in 2001.

His accomplishments at Scrum-Half led to him catching the attention of Harlequins, who signed him in 2009.

Dickson was usually behind England star Danny Care in the pecking order, but was nonetheless praised by then-Quins rugby director Conor O’Shea as “one of the top five scrum halves in the country”.

He made 169 appearances for the west Londoners before retiring in 2017.

Karl Dickson has twin daughters and is the brother of former England and Northampton scrum half Lee Dickson.

What were Karl Dickson’s highlights as a referee?

Having started qualifying in 2014, Ben Dickson started refereeing in the Premiership after retiring from rugby in 2017.

He made his international debut when he chaired the 2018 Georgia-Samoa Autumn International in Tbilisi.

And he will be familiar to the French team, having made his Tier 1 debut in the 2020 friendly against Wales, which they won 38-21.

Dickson officiated in Ireland’s win over Japan last summer and has now been promoted to the Six Nations.

However, he caused controversy in 2021 after failing to give former teammate Kyle Sinckler a yellow card for yelling, “Are you f***ing serious?” at him during a Harlequins game.