Lucky 13 for Sam Grove-White

Sam Grove-White, one of Scotland’s trio of professional referees, was presented with his referee cap in a ceremony yesterday afternoon.

Grove-White, 33, a former back-row forward, became the 13^th Scot to receive a referee cap, with SRU President Keith Wallace doing the honours at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.

Referee caps are awarded to those who have officiated at an international match in the men’s game involving a Tier 1 union and are still alive.

Grove-White, who hails from Montrose, follows on an illustrious list: Allan Hosie; Jim Fleming MBE, Brian Anderson, Norman Sanson, Ken McCartney, Eddie Murray, Iain Ramage, Chuck Muir, Malcolm Changleng, Rob Dickson, and his contemporaries, Hollie Davidson and Mike Adamson.

He said: “Receiving this referee cap means a great deal to me. Getting the chance to take charge of England vs USA in Washington this past summer was a huge moment in my career, and one I’ll never forget.

“I’ve had a lot of support along the way from family, friends, and the refereeing team and community in Scotland and this recognition reflects all of their input as much as my own.

“To join such a small group of Scottish referees is special, and it’s given me real motivation to keep improving and earn more opportunities at the highest level.”

Grove-White took up refereeing at Montrose Academy, after he had sustained an ankle injury playing badminton!

Refereeing was in the blood, as his uncle, David Jack, was a renowned official in Scotland’s domestic game.

Encouraged by David and by Duncan Campbell at the Montrose club, Sam would analyse games during his breaks when he worked at the Inverbervie sports centre.

The headlines from his career to date:

• Some 56 URC games from his debut at Leinster v Dragons in 2017.
• Some 12 EPCR Challenge Cup matches and seven EPCR Champions Cup contests.
• He made his Test debut as a referee at Portugal v Belgium in the Rugby Europe Championship in 2020.
• His Tier 1 debut was in Washington back in July when he controlled USA v England – a game affected by a dramatic thunderstorm!
• He has handled some 12 Test matches, most recently Romania v the USA last month, his fourth time refereeing Romania.
• His Tier 1 debut as an assistant referee was Italy v NZ in 2021 and he made his Six Nations Championship AR debut earlier this year at Italy v Wales, following up as AR at both Australia v Argentina matches in the Rugby Championship.
• In sevens, Sam was on the HSBC World Series circuit for four years and refereed a thumping 141 matches, the highlight of which was the Hong Kong 7s final between South Africa and Fiji in 2017.

Andrew Macpherson, Scottish Rugby’s High Performance Match Official manager, said: “Congratulations to Sam, who like Mike and Hollie, works diligently on his game and seeks to maintain high standards.”

Scottish Rugby will undertake further research to ensure we have an accurate list of referees who have controlled Women’s international matches involving Tier 1 unions, to further broaden the scope of our referee caps in due course.