Six Nations: how a Hong Kong rugby referee made the journey from King’s Park to Twickenham
- James Doleman will make his Six Nations debut next month at Twickenham, when England take on Italy
- It will be a far cry from his first game in charge – an under-9s clash on pitch 3B at King’s Park in 2007
By his own admission, James Doleman was “rubbish” when he first refereed a game of rugby. Fortunately it was an under-9s match in Hong Kong and he’s improved considerably since then.
Now keeping things under control full time, the 31-year-old New Zealander has several Test matches under his belt and will be making his Six Nations debut next month in England’s game against Italy at Twickenham.
On Saturday, though, he was in the rather more intimate surroundings of Hong Kong Football Club for the home side’s 17-3 win over HK Scottish in the Nan Fung/Sewit Men’s Hong Kong Premiership.
Not wanting to go into a Test match without any rugby under his belt, Doleman asked the local referees’ association, of which his father Steve has long been a member, if he could have a run out.
The experience was a far cry from the one on pitch 3B at King’s Park in 2007, when as a 16-year-old recovering from a broken collar bone he agreed to referee instead of playing in a schools’ tournament as planned.
“I was a little bit tentative but gave it a go, and I was rubbish, and dad told me that too,” he said. “So there was plenty to work on after the under-9s game.”
