MY LIFEIN RUGBY
FORMER TOP-FLIGHT REFEREE
DARREN GAMAGE

MY very first game as a referee was the only game I have ever had to abandon. It was Wellingborough Old Grammarians 3rds and Northampton Casuals 3rds and a 30-man brawl erupted and because I hadn’t seen who the perpetrator was, I couldn’t send anyone off – so they all walked off the pitch.
From there, I worked my way up through the ranks and joined the National Panel at the start of the 1990s and refereed at all levels through to the Championship – where I did over 100 games – and beyond. My deve...