Tony Spreadbury certainly made an impact in his first Test match, the English referee having to send off fellow debutant, France’s Abdel Benazzi, for deliberately stamping on an Australian head on June 9 1990 in Sydney.
By then Spreadbury, a member of the Somerset Referees Society, had already been refereeing for just over a decade, having started as a 17 year old after a shoulder injury meant his playing days as a hooker were over.
The 41 year old made the RFU panel in 1984, making his Division One debut with Leicester against Saracens that year, before breaking into the top 10 referees in England four years later and going on Five Nations referee exchanges.
Spreadbury, who enjoys singing tenor in a church choir, has been a professional referee for two years, having previously combined his refereeing with life as a paramedic in the ambulance service for 17 years.
Ten years after controlling the Pilkington Cup final between Leicester and Harlequins, Spreadbury refereed two finals in 2003, replacing the injured Chris White early in the European Cup final and then the inaugural Zurich Premiership Final.
Spreadbury also refereed this year’s first Bledisloe Cup match when New Zealand convincingly beat Australia 50-21 in Sydney.