Danny care knew his former teammate Karl Dickson was serious about refereeing when he would drive hours after training to officiate games. now,eight years after retiring from playing,Dickson will referee his first Gallagher Premiership rugby final,between Bath and Leicester tigers at allianz Stadium,Twickenham.

Care and Dickson played together as scrum-halves for Harlequins for eight years. The recently retired England centurion is impressed with Dickson’s swift progress through the refereeing ranks.

Premiership Final Referee Profile

Care, who will be a pundit for TNT Sports at the final, said: “It’s amazing for Karl. It’s brilliant.I’m realy chuffed for him. His kids grew up with mine; they’re the same age as my eldest boy, so they are still in touch.”

“I’m a friend so it’s brilliant to see his transition into a referee and, obviously, a world-class one. I’ll be cheering him on. Hopefully he doesn’t have a stinker on the weekend!”

“It’s amazing for Karl.It’s brilliant.I’m really chuffed for him… I’ll be cheering him on. Hopefully he doesn’t have a stinker on the weekend!”

When asked if more players should become referees, Care recalled: “Karl had decided fairly early with a with a couple of years to go on his playing career that he was going to pursue it. And I remember he we would finish training sessions, and he’d straight in the car. He’d be like, ‘I’ve got a drive to Gloucester becuase I’m refereeing a game’.”

“Fair play, he put the hours in. He was doing it in and around a packed rugby training schedule and then getting to games and grafting. It’s brilliant to see his trajectory – they obviously like him!

“They’ve taken him under their wing, and he’s doing really well and has been rewarded with the Prem final.”

Care admires Dickson’s commitment to an expansive, fast-paced game. “What I like about Kyle’s style is he likes to have a a faster attacking brand of rugby. He’s not too whistle happy,I don’t think. He lets the play go; I like referees that give advantages to see what happens. He seems to do that an awful lot and probably wants to get games to be played at high-tempo.”