France will be looking to bounce back from their defeat to England as they head to Rome to face Italy this afternoon.
After a winning start to this year's tournament courtesy of a 43-0 thumping of Wales, Fabien Galthie's side lost by a singular point in Le Crunch as Elliot Daly's last-gasp try sealed a 26-25 win for the hosts at Twickenham a fortnight ago.
As they look to get their campaign back on track, however, they face a potentially tricky task against the Italians who will be buoyed by their win over Wales in the last round. In fact, last year saw the Azzurri come within inches of their first Six Nations win on French soil, as Paolo Garbisi's missed penalty in the dying seconds meant they had to settle for a surprise draw.
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What will lie in store this time around remains to be seen, with Englishman Karl Dickson the man tasked with keeping everything under control this afternoon. Here's everything you need to know about today's official.
Who is Karl Dickson?
A scrum-half during his playing days, Dickson made more than a century of appearances for Bedford Blues before making 169 outings for Harlequins.
During his time with Quins, their director of rugby claimed he was "among the best five scrum-halves in the country" and some fine displays saw him called up England during the 2012 Six Nations, as well as for that summer's tour of South Africa.
Despite the call-ups, however, he was never officially capped for his country - but he did come off the bench against the South Africa Northern Barbarians during that summer tour. That appearance saw him replace his younger brother Lee, who won 18 caps for England as well as playing over 250 times for Northampton Saints.
After hanging up his boots in 2017, Dickson joined the RFU's match officials team, having begun his refereeing qualifications three years earlier. Starting off with school matches, he rose through the ranks to officiate in Premiership games and made his international debut just a year after retiring from playing as he took charge of Georgia's meeting with Samoa.
He made his first Tier One appearance in a 2020 friendly between France and Wales, while he was named as one of the referees for the 2023 Rugby World Cup and served as an assistant to Wayne Barnes during the final.
ITV statement after error
While Dickson had a role to play in the final game of that World Cup, he also featured in the tournament opener between hosts France and New Zealand. However, it did not all go to plan for the Englishman as an error on his part as an assistant referee led match broadcasters ITV to issue a statement after the full-time whistle.
After a late try from Melvyn Jaminet put France 27-13 ahead in the final moments, the full-back lined up a conversion in hope of putting the icing on the cake for his side. But while his kick flew high above the sticks, it wasn't immediately clear whether it had actually sailed between them - with Dickson sticking his flag up to indicate a score but the other touch judge leaving theirs down.
As the coverage went back to the studio following the full-time whistle, ITV and World Rugby were forced to quickly clarify the scoreline as it was revealed that the conversion had actually gone wide.
Presenter Mark Pougatch told viewers: "For the accuracy of your World Cup wall chart, actually the final score was 27-13. There was a debate about whether the final conversion went over. One touch judge put his flag up, one didn't.
"It has now been confirmed it didn't go over. Jaminet thought he had converted his own try but it has been confirmed it didn't so it is not France's biggest win over New Zealand."
Clock malfunction
Dickson also saw his time-keeping come under scrutiny after a serious clock malfunction occurred during last month's Gallagher Premiership clash between Sale Sharks and Bath.
Sale were leading 16-5 at the AJ Bell Stadium when the hosts knocked the ball on with the TV clock already in the red at the end of the first half. But while it was expected that the referee would blow for half-time, Dickson in fact allowed one more scrum to take place - only for Bath to subsequently score from it.
As both sets of forwards prepared to pack down, the TMO could be heard saying: "Karl, what time have you got?," to which Dickson replied: "There's three seconds left. Is that the same as you?". The TMO then replied: "No, that's fine."
The TNT Sports commentary team were left bemused by what was happening, with lead commentator Alastair Eykyn saying: "It was knocked on by the Sharks and that will take us to half-time," only for former England star Austin Healy to remark: "Maybe not unless someone tells Karl what the time is."
"Anyone looking at the clock? Anyone?" joked Eykyn, before Bath promptly cut the deficit to four points as Finn Russell converted Ruaridh McConnochie off the back of the scrum.
"Bath striking at the end of this first half, striking well beyond the end of this first half seemingly," said Eykyn. "It will be a score which might cause a stir."
"Won't it just!" replied Healey. "It was a great score but the question is, what's the time Alli?"
However, Bath soon cleared up the confusion as they explained that Dickson had the correct time, with the stadium and TV clock out of sync. In a statement posted on their social media channels, the club wrote: "For clarity, the commentary team on TNT have clarified that referee Karl Dickson's clock was correct at the end of the first half. The stadium and TV clock seemed to be slightly out of sync, which caused some confusion at the end of the first half."
