Deal rugby referee Matt Carley's big day almost ruined by weather
by Kevin Redsull
Deal referee Matt Carley’s first
match in charge of an Under-20 Six Nations Championship match was
almost ruined by rain at the weekend.
Carley had been appointed to take
charge of the Italy v Wales international in Viterbo on Friday.
He said: "When I first arrived at
the ground I thought there was no way the game could go ahead
because the whole pitch was under water after all the rain they’ve
had in that part of Italy.
"But the Italian officials said to
me, ‘Don’t worry, if you put the kick-off time back a bit we’ll get
the pitch ready’ and they called in the local fire brigade to pump
the water off the pitch."
The match kicked off only an hour
later than scheduled and Carley added: "It rained again during the
first half and at half-time the two coaches raised their concerns
and said they would be happy if we only played for 60 minutes so
that the result would stand. But the rain did stop and we played a
full game."
Wales won 25-10 and
Carley added: "Despite the weather, it was a great experience
and the Italian hospitality after the game was second to none."
Carley reverts to domestic rugby
duty when he takes charge of the Championship game between London
Scottish and Jersey on Saturday.
Former Deal and Betteshanger
junior Danny Herriott made his third appearance for England
under-20s as a replacement when he came on five minutes from the
end of their 40-10 victory over France at Worcester on
Saturday.
28/02/13
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