Nigel Whitehouse, unlike many of his counterparts heading for Rugby World Cup 2003, is not a full-time referee but a Police Sergeant with South Wales Police, looking after road and traffic safety.
The 41-year-old, who has been in the Police Force for 20 years, took up refereeing in 1989 after seeing his playing career ended three years previously by a cruciate ligament injury.
Whitehouse was a scrum-half for his village side Gowerton and also played for Llanelli before joining the South Wales Police team in 1983 and going on to represent the Welsh and British Police.
The Welshman made his international refereeing debut in April 1998 with the Rugby World Cup qualifier between Belgium and the Netherlands in Brussels, a match the visitors won 19-16.
He made his Test debut in Ireland’s 78-9 rout of Japan at Lansdowne Road in November 2000 and has gone on to control the European Shield final in 2001 and make his Six Nations debut the following year.
However Whitehouse endured a spell on the sidelines earlier this year after breaking his leg in a fall in snowbound Moscow, where he had gone to referee the Rugby World Cup qualifier between Russia and Spain last November.