England v Scotland referee Pierre Brousset was pulled from Six Nations game at last minute
French referee Pierre Brousset will take charge of his first ever Six Nations match on Saturday when England take on Scotland at Twickenham - a year after what should have been his tournament debut was ruined by injury.
Brousset, 36, is a former lower league scrum-half who gave up playing at the age of 19 to focus on refereeing. By 2018 he was a full-time rugby ref and was once the youngest official in the French Top 14.
He has already taken charge of Rugby Championship and Autumn Nations Series fixtures, as well as international U20s matches, but his biggest ambition has always been to officiate a Six Nations match.
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That ambition was nearly realised last February when he was due to referee the clash between Ireland and Italy in Dublin. However, a last-minute injury forced him to pull of the game, and he was replaced by Luke Pearce.
Now, a year on, he will finally take centre stage in one of the biggest and most historical rugby fixtures of the all - England v Scotland.
“I was a player until I was 20,” Brousset said a few years ago. “I had the opportunity to take the referee’s exam by chance when I was talking to someone about refereeing. I thought it might be interesting at times to know the rules properly. That’s how it all started when I was 17. I passed my first exam and then I played my first matches.
"Two years later I stopped playing to try my hand at refereeing. I was asked to make a choice so that I could go on to the highest level. When I made the decision to stop playing, it was my second senior season and I’d understood at what level I was going to stop as a player. I was in Fédérale 3 at Sporting-Club de Rieumes, occasionally in the first team.
"So I said to myself that if I wanted to aspire to a bit of top level football, why not give it a try. My initial goal was to be in the Fédérale 1 within five years. I started to immerse myself in refereeing and here I am, goal after goal.”
Match officials for England v Scotland at Twickenham, February 22:
Referee: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (Ire) & Luc Ramos (Fra)
Television Match Official: Tual Trainini (Fra)
Foul Play Review Officer: Quinton Immelman (SA)
