Referee Ridley still has that Tigers’ fighting spirit
ROOKIE Premiership referee Christophe Ridley has set his sights on taking charge of a World Cup final after completing a remarkable rise to the top.
Former England U18s scrum-half Ridley, 24, had been earmarked for a stellar playing career at Leicester after featuring in their academy alongside George Ford and Manu Tuilagi.
However, a double-shoulder dislocation in 2012 put paid to those hopes before he was offered a surprise second route towards topflight rugby.
Ridley, who took charge of his first Premiership match when London Irish played Wasps in November, said: “I’d captained England U18s and was playing A-League games for Leicester so things were going pretty well for me.
“When I joined Leicester’s academy we had a pretty tough senior group with guys like George, Manu, Alex Lewington, Scott Steele, Henry Purdy and Charlie Walker – guys who all play Premiership rugby now – and didn’t lose a game for two years.
“But two shoulder operations meant I could no longer play at Premiership level and I was ready to quit the game before Chris White, the RFU’s referee development manager, suggested we have a chat – and here I am now, reffing guys I played with.
“It’s funny coming across them but in a way it helps because if something in a game needs changing, I can turn to those guys to get my message across.”
Ridley’s age makes him a target for terrace abusers. However, he counters: “Criticism comes with the role but it also motivates me to prove people wrong.
“If I hear someone thinks I’ve refereed poorly or that I’m naive or lack the skillset because of my age, it just inspires me to show them why I’ve been selected.
“The reason is we’re successful at what we do and I’ve got great role models in guys like Wayne Barnes, Matt Carley and JP Doyle, with whom I’m able to train and review matches and can add some of their behaviours into the way I referee.
“With the rigour in which they conduct their analysis and preparation, it’s no surprise they’ve been at the top for so many years now.” With the use of television match officials being a recent source of contention, Ridley explains: “In the Premiership we try to use the TMO as little as possible and my philosophy is to only use it if there’s going to be a significant impact on the game.
“It’s a brilliant tool if used correctly and I’m happy that the system is as good as it can be, although we constantly look to improve what we do.”
As for his ultimate ambition, Ridley, left, added: “I’m as ruthlessly competitive now as I was as a player so of course I want to referee a World Cup final.
“I’m aware that it’s a very long road and I’m constantly learning from the experts around me, but I want to be the world’s number one referee.”