It’s not the road trip of a lifetime but rather a refereeing appointment with the US’s Major League Rugby (MLR) competition that has taken the Scottish referee across the Atlantic.



Grove-White’s attention now turns to South Brooklyn as he gears up to take charge of Rugby United New York against Houston SaberCats this coming Sunday (5 May).

“At the start of the season MLR approached the Guinness PRO14 about the possibility of sending out referees at different times of the season to help facilitate their league,” said Grove-White.

“I am the fourth referee to head out this season with each staying for between three and six weeks.”

Rugby might not be the biggest sport in America, but it’s growing fast. MLR was established in 2017 and represents the top level of pro rugby in North America. Scottish Rugby recently announced strategic stakeholding with Old Glory DC, a team that will take part in the MLR competition from February 2020.

“It’s an exciting time to be involved with rugby in USA with MLR into its second season and it expanding with more teams next year,” said Grove-White.

This isn’t Grove-White’s first experience of refereeing in the States. He made his HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series debut in Las Vegas in March 2017 and last summer was selected to referee at the Sevens World Cup in San Francisco.

He’s come a long way since starting his rugby career as a five year-old at Montrose Minis and it was during his time at Robert Gordon University that he opted to make the switch from playing to refereeing, an ankle injury helping him with the decision.

Grove-White gained experience at a local level, developing his skills and building his experience before being selected for Scottish Rugby’s high performance programme. Now a full-time referee, he made his Guinness PRO14 debut in November 2017 with Leinster v Dragons and hasn’t looked back since.