Two of our top referees share their experiences from a recent trip to Edinburgh, thanks to Danny Hitchcock and Neil Wharton for both reports
Neil Wharton writes:
The departure lounge at Luton Airport is not generally regarded as the most promising place for new friendships to be formed. But as the rendez-vous for me and my fellow Edinburgh Exchange referee, Danny Hitchcock, it was here that our trip got underway on a dark, cold November morning.
Danny, being better organised than me, had arrived at the airport before I’d even left Richmond but he showed no ill effects from his very early start. As the clock ticked towards our departure time, we exchanged anecdotes from our refereeing experiences not necessarily to the delight of our neighbouring passengers.
Our flight north of the border passed without incident but thanks to clear skies and a window seat each, we could admire with a sense of trepidation regarding the weekend’s fixtures, the heavily frosted hills as we approached the Scottish capital. The Edinburgh temperature was on a par with Moscow’s with which it also shares its latitude. We’d set Friday aside for some tourism which got underway from the skies above Edinburgh with a wonderful view of the Forth Bridge as we descended towards our destination.
No sooner had we landed, the sightseeing continued as we headed off to the world-famous castle.
At precisely one o’clock the aptly named One O’Clock Gun fired its Victorian era nautical navigation aid whilst at the same time scaring the living daylights out of any tourists and refs that weren’t paying attention.
The gun was the location for yet another friendship forming rendez-vous as George Downie the ERRS Exchange Secretary met us there at two o’clock when, thankfully, no gunfire was scheduled to take place. Our tour continued and thanks to George’s extensive knowledge we were able to ditch the dull audio guide (£3.50 – don’t bother –get George to guide you).
A walk along the Royal Mile and a visit to St Giles’ Cathedral will be on the “Must See” list of any Edinburgh visitor. Our experience of these attractions was enhanced by further insights from George as we navigated the street performing bag pipe player, tartan clad mime artists and a kilt wearing chap on stilts – don’t look up was the advice.
Our evening was intended to be spent at Boroughmuir RFC to watch the eagerly anticipated u19 semi-final against local rivals Currie with a sought-after Murrayfield final as the prize. Sadly, the conditions put paid to the fixture. Whilst we lost on the rugby swing we gained on the social roundabout as we joined the greater part of the ERRS committee for a memorable evening at the China Red restaurant followed by a couple of swift ones at a local establishment, to settle our nerves before the big games to come.
With Saturday’s arrival came news of multiple game cancellations as the weather was wreaking havoc with the fixture list. We were able to take our minds off the challenges being faced by our hosts by spending the morning watching a school game refereed by Liz Gilchrist who had joined us for dinner the night before. An entertaining game was duly delivered by Liz and we were now ready for whatever lay ahead.
New fixtures arrived and were cancelled only to be replaced by new games found for us by our intrepid hosts. With 6 (yes 6) tried and failed attempts, my coach, Craig, assured me that his 7th attempt to find me a fixture would succeed. Craig is rarely wrong about anything and by 2pm I was getting things underway at Heriots as they took on Linlithgow.
Meanwhile, Danny who had merely had to cope with 2 cancellations (or perhaps it was 3 - we were struggling to keep up!) was in the middle at Penicuick being coached by Colin.
Our hosts were not doing things by halves. With our games concluded we were invited to dine at Dine next to Boroughmuir RFC, joining Gordon (ERRS Treasurer) and Ronan (ERRS President) for (another) lovely meal followed by post dinner entertainment at Boroughmuir RFC. With the France v Australia game on the screens, beers in our glasses and the remnants of a Lady’s Day Prosecco swigging crowd which, despite limited numbers, were creating a surprisingly rowdy atmosphere, we could look back fondly on an eventful and hugely enjoyable couple of days.
Huge thanks to Craig Halley (Neil’s coach and fixture finder), Colin Smart (Danny’s coach), Gordon Grant (ERRS Treasurer and (very) generous host), George Downie (Military mastermind and Exchange expert), Liz Gilchrist (nerveless ref despite the baying mob AKA Neil and Danny) and Ronan MacHugh (President and late-night taxi driver) for providing us with an unforgettable weekend. I look forward to being able to assist should any ERRS members head south in the not-too-distant future.
Danny Hitchcock writes:
I was lucky to have been selected for an exchange game in Edinburgh, at 4am on 21st November 2025, the alarm woke me and I shot out of bed, early flight to Edinburgh. It was freezing cold and there had already been several games cancelled ahead of the weekend in Scotland. Neil Wharton and I met up at Luton airport ready for our flights.
The Edinburgh Rugby Referees had arranged everything for us, a hotel next to the Zoo on a direct line from airport to hotel, a greeting at the Castle by a very knowledgeable George Downie who went through the castle with us describing where everything was and even being collected and taken for dinner at the local Chinese restaurant. It’s worth noting, we were due to watch an age grade semi-final, with the winners moving on to play at Murrayfield, but the weather put paid to that fixture.
There were various changes to games as the evening wore on and more fixtures lost out to the weather (Neil was on his 7th fixture at this point). Craig kept getting fixtures for us and pushing for us to be able to referee at an incredibly challenging weekend.
On Saturday morning, we were invited to watch Liz Gilchrist a local referee who had joined us for the evening before and who was refereeing a school match in the morning. Great game with fast flowing rugby, a great thing to get he juices running ready for the game ahead.
I was fortunate to referee Penicuik Rugby club and accompanied by Colin, a coach from Edinburgh Rugby.
Colin then assessed my game with good things for me to work on. Once the game was complete and I was returned to my hotel, we made our ways to Boroughmuir RFC where a short walk was taken and an evening meal was partaken with Gordon and Ronan, who were very generous hosts before popping back to Boroughmuir RFC to watch the France V Australia game. A short nap later, and I was back on the plane heading home, with one of the biggest smiles I have ever had on my face. Thank you to each of the societies for the opportunity and if there is an Exchange from Edinburgh to London, I would happily help that person navigate our local rugby clubs.
I would encourage everyone to get involved in this, what an opportunity and what a weekend.
