Colin High

Scottish Rugby is saddened to learn of the death earlier today of its high performance referee coach and former international referee Colin High.  He was 74.Colin, who was presented with the Referee Award for Distinguished Service by World Rugby’s forerunner, the IRB, in 2010, was hailed for a contribution to the game over six decades that was “nothing short of exceptional.”From Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, Colin had worked with Scottish Rugby on a part-time basis for the last seven years and encouraged and cajoled in equal measure some of our top referees from Andy Macpherson, Peter Allan and Neil Paterson to Lloyd Linton, Mike Adamson and Sam Grove-White.Grove-White said today: “The big thing for me was his passion for the game. He was driving the best part of three hours to get to a ground to see us young referees.  You couldn’t fail to be impressed with his knowledge and his game understanding as you knew he’d been there himself.”When Colin received his distinguished service award in 2010, then IRB Chief Executive, Mike Miller, said: “His contribution to the game as a player, referee, referee manager and IRB referee assessor is nothing short of exceptional.”A draughtsman with Vickers engineering company, married to Cora, Colin worked his way up from the Cumbria Referees Society and their Manchester equivalents to the RFU and then world governing body, IRB.He controlled three internationals, France v Wales and Wales v USA in 1987 and New Zealand v Scotland in the First Test in Dunedin in 1990. His off-field contribution to refereeing was immense.  He was appointed as the English RFU’s first full-time National Referees’ Manager in 1997 and championed the creation of their Elite Refereeing Unit in 2001, driving referee development in the early days of professionalism in England. He was also an international assessor and assisted unions including Russia, Romania, Uruguay and Morocco in developing their referees. Players’ refereeDave Pearson, Scottish Rugby’s High Performance Referee Manager, said: “Colin was a players’ referee. As an assessor he was honest and you always knew where you stood. He was very much a family man and our thoughts are with his family and many friends today.”Scottish Rugby extends its sincere condolences to Colin High’s family and friends.