"I remember being the young ref around the block and suddenly 50 internationals deep I guess I'm ageing a little bit," jokes Luke Pearce as he reflects on a half-century of Test call-ups.

It is something of a surprise for the man based in Exeter, Devon, after French official Pierre Brousset was forced to pull out through injury.

"It's something that I've always tried to aspire to," he tells BBC South West of his 50th game.

"Everyone's saying 'well done', but I'm not finished yet and it's trying to now kick on for the next 50.

"I'm not sure I'll last another 50, but we'll see how I get on," he jokes.

Having been a top-flight referee in England since September 2011, Pearce got his first international call-up in 2014 when he was in the middle for the European Nations Cup decider between Georgia and Romania.

He has gone on to officiate at the last two World Cups, but says gaining international experience is not as easy for referees as it is for players.

"The hard part now is getting games, we only get one game a window normally," says Pearce, who refereed the 2023 Premiership final, the 2021 European Champions Cup final and the 2022 Challenge Cup final.

"I've been lucky enough to pick up another game in the Six Nations, so that's why it's slightly earlier than it should have been.

"We normally get four games a year around the world and you just try and stay in the mix for another World Cup, where you can pick up a few more caps than you do around other parts of the year."

Pearce says understanding what players are trying to do, and trying to be as consistent as possible, are the keys to being a good referee.

But he acknowledges that no referee will ever get every single decision right in a game - even with the help of video technology.

"If you can acknowledge when a player is trying to illegally cheat, versus when they've just got something wrong, you're on a step in the right direction already and that's vitally important.

"That comes with experience and comes with being at the very top level, and knowing what the players are trying to achieve, and just knowing when you need to step in to correct them - and knowing when to step in to blow your whistle when they're illegally doing something wrong.

"We've got to use technology to the best of our ability to get the big stuff right," he adds.

"We haven't always done in the past but we're slowly getting there I think.

"We're never going to see everything. We're going to miss the odd knock-on, we're going to miss the odd forward pass, but if that leads to a try straight away we have to get it [right], if it doesn't people forgive us.

"Once you enter that realm of acceptance of that, then I think you're definitely halfway there."

Pearce still feels there is a lot of fuel left in his tank to referee around the globe, although he does say that the travel part of his job has lost the allure it once had.

"I'm 36 now, I'd certainly keep going until the 2027 World Cup, which will be three years away," he explains.

"If I can hang on for another four years I'll be intending to do that.

"One thing I've learned over the last 50 international Tests is that you don't know what's around the corner with rugby and professional sport, and I'll keep doing it as long as I enjoy it.

"I love what I do - I don't quite love the travel so much at times - but I love when I'm out in the middle of the pitch and with those class players.

"You do get the best seat in the house and you get a chance to show your skills, and how you can make that game better at times."