Scottish World Cup referee Jim Fleming has announced he will retire from the game at the end of the season.

The 49-year-old is Scotland's most capped referee and has controlled 40 major internationals after being forced to end his playing career 28 years ago through concussion. Fleming was appointed to Scotland's international panel in 1983 before officiating at his first international, Ireland v England, 12 years later.

Scotland coach Ian McGeechan believes that the loss of Fleming will be a major blow to the sport. "We are losing the best referee Scotland has ever produced - and I don't say that lightly,'' said McGeechan. "From the coaching point of view, he was the sort of referee you always wanted. He produced good games of rugby. People keep telling me that referees do not have influence on the game but you only have to look at the games Jim produced to see that that's not the case."

But Boroughmuir official Fleming insisted that he was quitting the game at the right time. "When I made the decision to retire from all refereeing at the end of this season I was fulfilling a promise I made to myself many years ago that I would bow out when I was still at the top of my profession and on my terms," said Fleming. "It feels like the right time to go. I will be turning 50 in July and though I'm still enjoying it, it's getting a bit harder."

Fleming is one of only two referees to appear at all four World Cup tournaments to date, along with Derek Bevan. He refereed at the semi-final stage in two of the competitions - Australia v New Zealand in 1991 and New Zealand v France eight years later. He was appointed to the International Rugby Board's elite refereeing panel in 1997/98, a season which also saw him control the Heineken European Cup final between Bath and Brive.

As part of Fleming's schedule in his final two months with the whistle, he will control a series of high profile matches including the Border League Select versus Barbarians at Melrose on April 16, the forthcoming European Shield semi-final, the BT Cellnet Shield, the Scotland-Barbarians test and the IRB World Series Sevens at Twickenham from May 26-28.