Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
John Jones

England v Wales referee Mike Adamson, the 'horrendous' claim and complaint to World Rugby

Having got on the right side of referee Nic Berry in their victory over Scotland a fortnight ago, Wales will be hoping for a similar outcome as they take on England at Twickenham.

In what was a tight game decided by a few key moments, Wayne Pivac's men kept their discipline and were rewarded by the officials, conceding eight penalties to Scotland's 13, with the visitors receiving the only yellow card of the game as Finn Russell was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on.

However, one former Scotland captain believes Berry was influenced by the passionate Cardiff crowd - you can read more about that here - but Wales certainly won't have that advantage this time.

The man taking charge of Saturday's huge game is Mike Adamson, who only made his Test refereeing debut in the Six Nations last year.

So, who is Mike Adamson and what can Wales expect from his officiating? We take a closer look at the man in the middle:

Who is Mike Adamson?

Born in Stirling in Scotland, Adamson represented amateur side Glasgow Hawks for 11 years, and helped them to National Cup victory, before securing a full-time contract with Glasgow Warriors in 2007.

However, while he played in a handful of pre-season friendlies for the Warriors, his only competitive appearance for the Glasgow side came against the Dragons in the Celtic League in 2008, as he found himself stuck behind Scottish internationals Dan Parks and Ruairidh Jackson in the pecking order for fly-half.

He later moved to London Scottish, but again only played one competitive match for the side.

But despite a somewhat limited club career, Adamson played for Scotland through the age grades, representing his country at U16, U17, U18, U19, U21 and Club XV levels.

He received senior caps for the Scotland Sevens side, and was their player of the season in 2006-07, going on to play in 30 World Rugby Sevens events and representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

After retiring from professional rugby, Adamson chose to pursue refereeing rather than coaching. In an interview with The Herald, he said: "Former players usually go down the coaching route after retirement but I feel I will be able to achieve more through refereeing. I have gained a lot from rugby and would like to give back to the sport."

He quickly worked his way up the refereeing ladder, taking charge in the Anglo-Welsh Cup in England, the Currie Cup in South Africa as well as officiating PRO D2 in France and Japan's Top League.

Having officiated in World Sevens matches since 2014, Adamson was also appointed to the refereeing panel for the Sevens events at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The same year, he also became the first ex-player to play and referee in the Celtic League/ Pro 12 league as he took charge of Munster versus Treviso.

Has he refereed any Wales games?

Yes. Adamson was man in the middle for Wales versus Australia last November, but it did not go the way he would have hoped, with the Wallabies complaining to World Rugby about his performance.

In a thrilling match which saw Wayne Pivac's men beat a dogged 14-man Australia side by a single point - running out as 29-28 winners in Cardiff - a moment of controversy threatened to overshadow the whole affair, with the blame being placed squarely at the referee's door.

Early in the second half, Welsh centre Nick Tompkins intercepted a pass by Hunter Paisimi, and knocked the ball to the ground in the process. While many Australia players paused to appeal to the ref, expecting him to blow up, Tompkins picked up the ball and ran clear to dot it down under the posts for a try.

Video replays showed the Saracens star barking "back, back" at the official, as he convinced Adamson that the ball had been knocked backwards. However, Australia were not convinced, and argued that the ball had clearly gone forward.

Adamson and television match official Marius Jonker consulted replays of the incident and decided the try should stand, leading Australia head coach Dave Rennie to describe their officiating as "horrendous".

The salt was really rubbed into the wound for the visitors as full-back Kurtley Beale was shown a yellow card in the first half for a deliberate knock-on in a similar incident.

World Rugby later issued a written warning to Rugby Australia and Rennie for the boss' comments, which he apologised for.

Adamson has also taken charge of England previously, overseeing their 41-18 thumping of Italy last year, while he will also be part of the refereeing team for their matches against Ireland and France in rounds four and five of this year's tournament.

Just last month, he came under fire for his handling of a big European Champions Cup tie which saw Harlequins beat Castres 36-33.

There were a number of controversial calls, culminating in the contentious awarding of a try to home back-rower Alex Dombrandt late on which proved decisive, resulting in Castres' elimination from the Cup.

Flak came in from far and wide over the officiating, with former England fly-half Andy Goode leading the way, saying on Twitter: "Got to feel for Castres there, some horrific decisions have gone against them."

Ex-Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan posted: "People wonder why coaches get so upset with referees. Most frustrating part is there are zero consequences for Mike Adamson. He is promoted to the Six Nations despite his performance.”

Who are the England v Wales officials?

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)

Assistant referees: Mathieu Raynal (FFR) and Frank Murphy (IRFU)

TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.