Scotland get their Six Nations campaign underway today as they host Italy at Murrayfield.

While rocked by a long-term injury to talisman Sione Tuipolotu, the Scots have been tipped by some as dark horses to win the tournament for the first time.

However, when the two sides met on Italian turf less than a year ago, it was the Azzurri who claimed a famous win - their first at home in the Six Nations for 11 years.

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With bragging rights and more up for grabs this year, referee Karl Dickson has been tasked with keeping an eye on proceedings. Here's everything you need to know about today's official.

Who is Karl Dickson?

A scrum-half during his playing days, Dickson made more than 100 appearances for Bedford Blues and 169 outings for Harlequins, with the latter's director of rugby claiming he was "among the best five scrum-halves in the country" during his time at the club.

Some fine displays even saw him called up by England during the 2012 Six Nations, as well as for that summer's tour of South Africa. He was never capped for his country, however, but did come off the bench against the South Africa Northern Barbarians, replacing his younger brother Lee - who won 18 caps for his country and played over 250 times for Northampton Saints.

After retiring in 2017, he joined the RFU's match officials team, having begun his refereeing qualifications three years earlier. He took charge of schools matches, as well as local and national league clubs, before progressing to officiate in A-League and Premiership games.

He made his international debut as a referee in Georgia's clash with Samoa in 2018, while he made his first Tier One appearance in a 2020 friendly between France and Wales.

Dickson was then promoted to the Six Nations in 2022, once again officiating Les Bleus in their 36-17 win over Scotland, while he was part of the refereeing pool for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

ITV statement after error

At the end of the opening game of that World Cup, an error on Dickson's part led to match broadcasters ITV issuing a statement after the full-time whistle.

With tournament hosts France looking to put the icing on the cake of a famous win over New Zealand, full-back Melvyn Jaminet lined up to convert his own score in the final moments. But while the kick flew above the sticks, whether it had sailed through them was not immediately obvious, with one touch judge sticking his flag up to indicate a score and the other leaving theirs down.

Dickson was the one that had judged the kick to have been successful, but after the match ended, ITV and World Rugby were forced to quickly clarify the scoreline, with the conversion actually going wide.

Addressing the situation, presenter Mark Pougatch told viewers: "For the accuracy of your World Cup wall chart, actually the final score was 27-13. There was a debate about whether the final conversion went over. One touch judge put his flag up, one didn't.

"It has now been confirmed it didn't go over. Jaminet thought he had converted his own try but it has been confirmed it didn't so it is not France's biggest win over New Zealand."

Danny Care controversy

Dickson came under fire last year after he failed to hand out a 'stonewall' second yellow card to his former Harlequins teammate Danny Care.

After making a head-on-head tackle on Courtney Lawes just six minutes into during Quins' Premiership clash with Northampton Saints, Care was sent to the bin but, in the second half, it looked as though he was going to be dismissed from the action again as he seemingly brought a Northampton break to a half illegally.

The 37-year-old appeared to push James Ramm in the back as he approached the breakdown, before diving straight over a ruck to stop his opposite man Alex Mitchell from playing the ball. With his actions preventing a clear opportunity for Saints, it looked as though Care would be shown a red card, with Dickson reaching for his pocket.

But after a scuffle then broke out between the two teams, it was decided that Care wouldn't be yellow-carded at all. The England international was then immediately substituted and appeared to smirk as he made his way off the field.

Pundits Lawrence Dallaglio and Ugo Monye were among those stunned that Care hadn't been sent off, with the latter questioning the scrum-half about his relationship with Dickson. Of course, the referee had previously competed with Care for the starting No.9 jersey at Quins, for whom he made nearly 170 appearances.

"We’ve been discussing the potential second yellow card that you didn’t get from your old team-mate, Karl Dickson," said Monye. "What did you make of it, Danny?”

Care replied: “I thought the ball was out. I’m trying to get the ball," before admitting: “There was a little fracas after which maybe helped me out.”

However, Dallaglio wasn't convinced, with the former England back row saying: "I spent a lot of time on a yellow card and I can assure you after a line break, that is a stonewall yellow card."

Watching a replay of the scrum-half leaving the field, Monye added: "That’s the face of someone that knows he’s got away with one!”

Care did at least admit he was at fault for the hit on Lawes, as he said: "The rules are the rules. He’s a big lad. I don’t know how I got high enough to hit his head. But it’s one of those. I’ve got to get my head out the way and go a bit lower. I'm disappointed in myself there."

Scotland v Italy referees

• Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

• Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England) & Damian Schneider (Argentina)

• TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)