Now that Craig Joubert has retired, here are the referee appointments for the Six Nations:
Roman Poite for Sco v Ire – not always friendly to us jocks (see SA in 2013), but he reffed Eng v Sco in 2015 pretty well and also oversaw the close loss to New Zealand in 2014 without too much fuss.
Jaco Peyper for Fra v Sco – Peyper used to be our friend (remember that last scrum against Australia in Newcastle)
John Lacey for Sco v Wal – enough said. This is a game many Scottish fans are hoping for something from. This selection does not enhance those chances.
Mathieu Raynal for Eng v Sco – oversaw the debacle at Pittodrie that ended Andy Robinson’s tenure. Gave plenty penalties against Tonga but Scotland were hopeless. Unlikely to be that way around this time.
Pascal Gauzere for Sco v Ita – Gauzere oversaw the penalty fest against Ireland and carded Dunbar for dumping Sexton – a response to a tackle Keith Earls would have taken issue with, I’m sure. Scrum better be up to scratch then.