Who is Wales v France referee Matthew Carley as Jaco Peyper assists for first time since Welsh fans' scandal

As is usually the case, there's a lot of pressure on the man with the whistle as Wales welcome France to the Principality Stadium.

Even with Wales' title hopes realistically over, the scalp of Grand Slam-chasing France is one Wayne Pivac's men will be keen to take.

The man controlling things in Cardiff will be England's Matthew Carley.

He's no stranger to a Wales v France clash, having taken charge of the sides' last meeting in Cardiff back in 2020.

That year, he was thrust into the spotlight considerably more than he'd have liked with the heat turned up on him pre-match.

Wales forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys and prop Wyn Jones spoke publicly about the French's work at the scrum, predicting they'd cheat at the set-piece.

“We know they’ll hit and chase and cheat,” said Jones. “That’s something we’re fully aware of and something we’ve got to combat on the day.

“They’ll look to push early, they’ll look to mess about at scrum time."

In the end, France came out on top that day, winning in Cardiff for the first time in 10 years.

In terms of this year's Six Nations, this is Carley's first and only match as referee. He's set to be a touch judge next week for Wales' final game with Italy, having performed the same role in the last round for Ireland's win over the Italians.

It that game, he was called upon by rookie Six Nations referee Nika Amashukeli for confirmation that Italy should reduced to 13 men after replacement hooker Hame Faiva was sent off, with Amashukeli and Carley being spot on in their implementation of the law in a bizarre situation.

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Carley has been refereeing at professional level since making his debut in the English Premiership in