Adamson appointed for PRO14 Semi and RWC warm up matches

Mike Adamson will be the main man in the middle and will be flanked by Lloyd Linton and Keith Allen as his assistants, with Neil Patterson named as the TV Match Official.

Adamson, 34, originally from Stirling, decided to take up refereeing after retiring from a playing career that included being capped for Scotland 7s, representing Glasgow Warriors for four seasons and a stint with London Scottish.

He said: “Refereeing is something that I’ve always been interested in. I used to try and ref the game myself when I was a player, so when the time came to hang up my boots I thought it would be something I’d like to pursue.”

A graduate of Glasgow University, Adamson’s refereeing journey began with Glasgow University Vets against the Glasgow University Medics.

“I started off with a couple of mid-week games before making the transition into weekend fixtures after I’d got a taste for it,” he said.

A member of the West of Scotland Referee Society, he made his representative debut in the PRO12 in 2016 at Munster v Treviso.

He’s made strong strides on the refereeing scene and was selected to officiate on World Rugby’s sevens circuit, whilst also earning the opportunity to referee at the 2016 Olympic Games Rugby Sevens in Rio.

On his recent appointment he added: “This will be my top refereeing appointment so far in the fifteens game after being fortunate enough to have been on the sevens circuit, too.

“It’ll be a great experience for me and the first time that I’ve refereed at that stadium, although I’ve run the line there before.”

Adamson will be the first Scottish Rugby match official to take charge of a European knock-out game after being re-introduced to the Championship in 2010.

The good news didn’t stop there for Adamson, who has also been appointed assistant referee for three Rugby World Cup warm-up Tests: Japan v Fiji, Ireland v Italy and Canada v USA.

“I’ll be great being over there in Japan. I’m particularly looking forward to the Canada against USA game where it will be indoors and should be a pretty good atmosphere.” he added.