WALES are taking on France as they look to halt Les Bleus march to the Grand Slam in its tracks.
The Welsh will also be out for revenge after the French ended their own Grand Slam dreams in last year’s competition.
Presiding over the huge contest at the Principality Stadium will be an Englishman – Matthew Carley.
Matthew Carley was born in Dover in 1984.
He was the first person ever to be offered an RFU refereeing scholarship at the University of Gloucestershire back in 2004.
In 2010, he debuted in the World Sevens before being promoted to become a Premiership referee in 2013.
He is highly experienced in international rugby, qualifying as an international official in 2015.
Two years later, he took charge of his first Tier 1 match – Scotland vs New Zealand.
Matthew Carley has refereed Wales on numerous occasions and was actually in charge last time the French visited the Principality Stadium in 2020.
On that day, France ran out narrow 27-23 winners but Wayne Pivac was left fuming at some of the decisions.
The New Zealander claimed Wales should have been given a penalty try when Paul Willemse slapped down a Ken Owens pass with Josh Adams free on the outside.
More recently, Carley refereed Wales’ trip to Scotland in 2021, and this time his biggest call went in favour of the Welsh as Zander Fagerson was sent off for leading with his shoulder against Wyn Jones.
