Italy v Wales referee Matthew Carley left BBC star raging as apology demanded
The pressure is on for Wales this weekend as they head to Rome in search of a crucial win against Italy.
Warren Gatland's side know Saturday's clash with the Azzurri is their best chance of not only avoiding another Six Nations whitewash and wooden spoon, but also ending their truly dismal run of 13 successive Test match defeats.
Things got off to the worst possible start in their tournament opener against France as they were on the wrong side of a 43-0 scoreline and nilled for the first time ever in a Six Nations game.
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They now face an Italian team that also lost on the opening weekend, but boast a powerful starting lineup and have beaten Wales in two of their last three meetings. However, history is on the side of Gatland's men, with a Welsh team not losing on Italian soil for 18 years.
With so much at stake, the match is bound to have some fiery moments. Tasked with keeping a lid on it all is referee Matthew Carley - here's everything you need to know about today's official
Who is Matthew Carley?
Carley started refereering at the age of 16 before being offered a RFU refereeing scholarship at the University of Gloucestershire. After graduating, he was promoted to the National Panel of Referees and started to referee matches at National 1 and 2 level, as well as in the RFU Championship.
During the 2012/13 Championship season, he became the first referee ever to officiate a professional game wearing 'RefCam' when he took charge of Newcastle Falcons vs London Scottish. He was later promoted to the Premiership, where he soon became a regular official.
Carley took charge of his first World Rugby-appointed match in 2016 as he refereed the United States' clash with Russia. The following year saw him make his first Six Nations appearance as an assistant referee, while he was the man in the middle for the first time in 2018.
After travelling to the 2019 Rugby World Cup as an assistant, he made his refereeing debut at the 2023 tournament as he took charge of Wales' Pool C opener against Fiji, a game that would prove to be a World Cup classic.
Clash with TV star
That match between Wales v Fiji proved to be one of the games of the tournament, but also saw Carley cause a bit of a stir as his refereeing came under considerable criticism from some quarters, with claims that his decisions lacked consistency.
There were claims that during the second half Wales were able to infringe regularly on their own line, receiving warning after warning. In the end, Warren Gatland's side were shown just one yellow card through Corey Domachowski, but those in the stadium and watching at home felt it could have been at least three or four.
Instead, Fiji’s Lekima Tagitagivalu was the first man carded and the Pacific Islanders' coach Simon Raiwalui couldn't hide his frustration at the full-time whistle as his side fell to a 32-26 defeat in Bordeaux.
"It’s pretty tough to talk when you are hot after the match," he said. "I did think when we were down in the corner, we had multiple penalties and could have been multiple more and we didn’t get a yellow card given against Wales.
“The referees have got a tough job, I respect what they do. As a coach, you are looking for that consistency. There were a couple of occasions where we thought we didn’t get the rub of the green.”
Former Scotland star Ruaridh Jackson also said the lack of cards for Wales was a "joke" adding:" [They] can thank Carley for that one", while ex-Fijian fly-half Nicky Little claimed the referee had "melted" when it mattered most.
However, while those in the rugby world had their say, Carley also got it in the neck from a more unexpected source, as BBC presenter Nick Knowles slammed his refereeing of the game as an "absolute disgrace".
The DIY SOS presenter even called for World Rugby to "apologise" to the Fijian team as he launched into a furious rant on X. He wrote: "Absolutely appalling officiating in this game - Fiji should launch an official complaint. Try line no arms tackle first half Wales ignored, multiple try line offences Wales ignored, one offence Fiji carded. Officiating ruining this World Cup.
"This is looking worse than bad officiating. I don’t even want to say it out loud," he added. "This officiating is an absolute disgrace and World Rugby owes Fiji an apology and this officiating team need censuring in some way.
"This is supposed to be a showcase but it’s grotesque. The officials won that game for Wales and something should be done about it. Nothing will of course but World Rugby you are absolutely making a mess of this showcase."
Italy v Wales referees
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referee 1: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referee 2: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
