 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Matthew Carley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 21 December 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Deal, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Referee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Matthew Carley (born 21 December 1984) is an English rugby union referee representing the Rugby Football Union. He is a regular referee in the English Premiership and has refereed games at European level.
Started playing rugby at Deal & Betteshanger Rugby Club. Carley started refereeing at the age of 16, taking charge of Aylesford 3rds v Maidstone 4ths where he was obliged to give his first yellow card to the Maidstone prop, Rob Lindsay, following Lindsay punching a member of the opposite team. In September 2004 he was first person to be offered a RFU refereeing scholarship at the University of Gloucestershire, which ran alongside his sports science degree. [1] After graduating, he returned home and joined the RFU's South East Group of referees ahead of the 2008–09 season. In 2010, Carley was promoted to the National Panel of Referees where he started to referee at National 1 and 2 level and Championship. [2] That same year he debuted on the World Sevens Series in Dubai.
During the 2012–13 RFU Championship, Carley became the first ever referee in the world to officiate a professional game wearing "RefCam" when he took charge of the Newcastle Falcons and London Scottish. [3] On 4 May 2013, he officiated his first Premiership game, taking charge of London Welsh and Worcester Warriors. Carley later became the first referee to gain promotion from the Referee Academy into a full-time referee. [4]
Three months into his first season at premiership level, Carley made his European debut taking charge of Cavalieri Prato home game against Lusitanos XV during the 2013–14 European Challenge Cup. In November 2014, Carley had his first taste of international rugby when he took charge of a RFU Championship XV against Canada. Several months later he officiated his first international, Portugal v Spain in the European Nations Cup. During the 2015/16 season, Carley became a regular referee at Premiership level and debuted in the European Rugby Champions Cup refereeing Munster against Benetton Treviso. [5] That same season he took charge of a 2015–16 European Rugby Challenge Cup quarter final and the second leg of the 2015–16 RFU Championship final.
He took charge of his first World Rugby appointed match, refereeing the United States against Russia in June 2016. In November 2016, he refereed his first Tier 1 nation, officiating Scotland's clash against Georgia. During the 2017 Six Nations Championship, he made his first Six Nations appearance, acting as assistant referee to John Lacey during Scotland's game against Wales and subsequently has taken charge of his first Tier 1 International Test match at Murrayfield Stadium refereeing Scotland Vs New Zealand on 18 November 2017. [6] In 2024 Carley was appointed as the referee for the Investec Champions Cup Final between Leinster Rugby and Stade Toulissant at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which involved England, was played in Scotland. The England national team compete annually in the Six Nations Championship, and are former world champions after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The top domestic men's club competition is Premiership Rugby, and English clubs also compete in international competitions such as the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top domestic women's competition is the Premier 15s.
Conor O'Shea is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the Italy national team from 2016 to 2019. He played as a full back and occasionally at out-half and centre for Ireland, Lansdowne and London Irish. He has also coached London Irish and Harlequins, and held management positions with the English Rugby Football Union and the English Institute of Sport.
Glen Warwick Jackson is a coach for the Fijian Drua and also Fiji national team. Jackson is also a former New Zealand rugby union player and referee. During his playing career, he was a first five-eighth. Domestically, he represented Bay of Plenty and Waikato in the NPC and the Saracens in the UK's Guinness Premiership. His strong performances saw him named in the Chiefs squad for the 1999 Super Rugby season and had international experience as well with New Zealand Māori and the Barbarians.
Jonathan Isaac Kaplan, is a former international rugby union referee who used to hold the record for the most international matches as referee.
Marius Jonker is a South African rugby union Television Match Official and former referee. He refereed at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, and regularly took charge of Super Rugby and Currie Cup matches. He also acted as a TMO at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, and will reprise this role at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
Nigel Owens, is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He previously held the world record for the most test matches refereed and is one of five international referees listed as professional within the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans, Adam Jones, Dan Jones and Ben Whitehouse. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest rugby referees of all time.
Chris White is an English international rugby referee. He is one of England's top rugby referees and has refereed at three Rugby World Cups.
Wayne Barnes is a retired English international rugby union referee. He was a frequent referee in the English Premiership, and refereed games in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. At international level, Barnes refereed matches at the Rugby World Cup, the Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and the Pacific Nations Cup competitions.
Craig Paul Joubert is a South African professional rugby union referee and a Referee Talent Development Coach at World Rugby.
George Clancy is an Irish rugby union referee. Clancy refereed at the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups. He has also refereed in the Pro14, the European Rugby Champions Cup, the Six Nations Championship and the Rugby Championship. Clancy refereed the 2007 Churchill Cup final and the 2009 and 2011 European Challenge Cup finals. Between 2013 and 2017 Clancy also served as a touch judge/assistant referee at five consecutive European Rugby Champions Cup finals.
Karl Dickson, is an English professional rugby union referee and former scrum half for Bedford Blues and Harlequins. He has previously coached at St. John's School, Leatherhead.
Jérôme Garcès is a French former international and professional rugby union referee who currently works as a discipline and refereeing advisor for the France national team.
John Paul "JP" Doyle is an Irish born rugby union referee. Doyle was one of ten full-time rugby union referees employed by the English Rugby Football Union until his redundancy in August 2020. In 2021, he was a referee in Major League Rugby (MLR) in the United States. In 2022, he was named high performance referee coach by Scottish Rugby Union.
Chris Pollock is a former rugby union referee who represented the New Zealand Rugby Union. In 2008, he was part of the IRB's touch judge panel. He made his international referee debut in 2005, when he refereed Niue vs Tahiti, while his first IRB appointment was in 2006, taking charge of Hong Kong vs Japan.
Pascal Gaüzère is a retired referee from Montfort-en-Chalosse in France who represented the French Rugby Federation at international level in refereeing. He officiated at the highest level from 2006 to 2021, refereeing matches in the club tournaments, Top 14, Pro12, Challenge Cup, and Heineken Cup.
Mathieu Raynal is a professional rugby union referee. He officiates at the highest level in the Top 14, European club rugby, and is on the World Rugby referee panel. In 2013, he broke his two legs in two places after getting too close to the action.
Ben Whitehouse is a Welsh rugby union referee. He is currently one of five professional referees at the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans and Adam Jones.
Luke Pearce is an English rugby union referee representing the Rugby Football Union. He is a regular referee in the English Premiership and has refereed games at European level and at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
James Robert Chisholm is an English professional rugby union player, currently playing for Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership. His primary position is Number Eight, but he can also play at flanker.
Sara Louise Cox is an English rugby union referee and former rugby union footballer. In 2016, she became the world's first professional female rugby union referee, and in 2018 she became the first woman to referee a Premiership Rugby Cup match. On 25 September 2021, she became the first woman to referee a Premiership Rugby Union Match when she took centre field for a fixture between Harlequins and Worcester Warriors at the Stoop.