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Six Nations

Referee Angus Gardner to reach major milestone

PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 12: Main referee Angus Gardner of Australia speaks with Andrew Porter of Ireland during the Guinness Six Nations match between France and Ireland at Stade de France on February 12, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

Australian whistleblower Angus Gardner takes charge of his 50th Test in Dublin this Saturday, as two-time defending Six Nations champions Ireland take on title rivals France (kick off 14:15 GMT).

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Gardner becomes the first Australian referee to reach a half-century after Stuart Dickinson retired three short of 50 in 2011 and the 15th person overall, with Kiwi Ben O’Keeffe clocking up 50 Tests in Ireland’s win over England in round one of the 2025 Six Nations.

The 40-year-old Sydneysider made his Test debut in Papua New Guinea’s 78-3 win over Vanuatu in November 2011 and has refereed at three Men’s Rugby World Cups (2015, 2019 and 2023). In 2018, he was named World Rugby Referee of the Year, the same year he refereed his first Super Rugby final.

In his first Test appointment since the All Blacks‘ 24-22 win over England in the Autumn Nations Series last November, Gardner has been entrusted with the pivotal match of the Championship.

France were triumphant in the only previous encounter between the teams when he was referee, winning 30-24 in Paris in their Grand Slam-winning year of 2022.

Gardner whistled Ireland off the park in the early stages of that match, with nine of the 10 penalties they conceded coming inside the first 42 minutes. The Australian caught them straying offside three times and the scrum penalty count was 2-0 against Ireland. Melvyn Jaminet was ruthless off the tee, kicking all six of his penalty attempts at goal and despite being outscored three tries to two, France always had their noses in front.

Including the 2022 victory over Ireland, France have won their last three Tests (also 23-21 vs Argentina and 33-31 vs England) when he’s been in charge, while Ireland have lost the last three.

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In addition to the France setback in 2022, Ireland have also been beaten in that three-game losing run by Wales (25-7 in Cardiff in the 2019 Six Nations) and Japan (19-12 at RWC 2019).

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Comments

2 Comments
T
Teddy 21 days ago

I like Angus. Decent fella.

T
Teddy 17 days ago

I've changed my mind. He's a seat sniffer. A bin dipper.


Thanks for nothing, Angus!

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Comments on RugbyPass

R
Rugby 101 - Ed Pye 9 minutes ago
Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

Yeah they do, they all have informal talks with teams and if there's not a fit, they have all sorts of options - extra draft picks, change in picks etc. If the player really doesn't want to go they can also force a redraft or close to go back into the draft for the following season

27 Go to comments
J
JWH 22 minutes ago
James O'Connor earns first Crusaders start against Moana Pasifika

Hopefully he shows the same class as when he came off the bench.

1 Go to comments
J
JWH 24 minutes ago
Highlanders shift Timoci Tavatavanawai away from wing for Brumbies match

Uh, guys, hes been playing center for a while now. He’s only logged as a winger on SRP fantasy.

1 Go to comments
S
Spew_81 31 minutes ago
Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

The NZRU could’ve said that they can make it work, but need more money. Put the ball in Rugby Australia’s court. Revenue sharing isn’t new.

8 Go to comments
S
Spew_81 33 minutes ago
Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Rugby league has made State of Origin work for decades and that’s a three game series, at essentially test match level.

8 Go to comments
S
Spew_81 34 minutes ago
Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

How does the NRL handle the State of Origin happening in the regular season? Couldn’t rugby just so a similar thing?


Can the Super Rugby players, that get picked, just miss their Super Rugby game for that week, then no player welfare issues? If both the All Blacks and Wallabies only have one week to prepare then it’s the same for both sides.


Yes, some Super Rugby sides will be out some of their players for a week. But there could be monetary compensation per player missing from the test money. The Super Rugby sponsors could get some sponsorship in the test to make up for the reduced spectacle in Super Rugby for that week.


If the NZRU didn’t like the game being in Australia, couldn’t they just demand a bigger cut?


Making it work won’t be simple. But it seems like the issues are things that can be taken into account for. It’s a missed opportunity.

8 Go to comments
S
SC 46 minutes ago
Hurricanes suffer playmaker blow, experiment with loose trio for Tahs

This may be the shortest NZ Super Rugby forward pack in its history.


Two smallish locks at 1.97m and 1.98m and none of the loose forwards are above 1.88m. Good luck winning clean ball at line-outs.

2 Go to comments
S
SC 47 minutes ago
Hurricanes suffer playmaker blow, experiment with loose trio for Tahs

Riley Hohepa is not even a good 10 at NPC level.


The Hurricanes are done for the season unless the shift Ruben Love to 10 whether he wants to play their or not.

2 Go to comments
S
SadersMan 1 hour ago
Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

Sorry bud, you’ve lost me with the mumbo jumbo.


As for stats, they’re on this website, under “Fixtures & Results”. Choose SRP, click on Crusaders v Reds, knock yourself out.

25 Go to comments
J
JWH 1 hour ago
Can 'Tongan Thor' rediscover his strength before the Lions arrive?

I think AAA is probs the best bet rn since at least he can stay reasonably mobile, and who wouldn’t want Thor coming off the bench?

89 Go to comments
J
JWH 1 hour ago
Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

Yeah they could’ve asked for it to be hosted at a neutral venue and then both teams split the cash and the other games each team gets their tickets from home games.


Could even but a 2 week long international break into the SRP season leading up to the match.

8 Go to comments
J
JWH 1 hour ago
Ioane Moananu didn't join the Crusaders 'to wait around'

Hope he gets a shot with the All Blacks XV, seems unlikely to crack the top team tho since Samisoni is back

2 Go to comments
J
JWH 1 hour ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Just on that last comment of yours:


Ireland were absolutely more respected after that game. Nobody cared when Ireland came to NZ, nobody acknowledged them either to be frank. But once they won, oh boy now everybody knew Ireland were a serious contender.


You think Australians and Kiwis and Saffas don’t respect each other? Because we do chat a bit of shite online to each other, but there is still a great deal of respect.


Everybody respected Ireland up until they choked another QF after hyping themselves up for about a year and a half.

18 Go to comments
S
SR 1 hour ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

What the? It's a June test series in the International calendar doh! France knew when they took the invite. They did the same thing last time and that was ages ago. Has France asked for different dates? Nope heard nothing here As for this assumption that a second string France squad would probably win here? Lost to them by 1 point at home with all their stars. Gaulthie might well be aware of this.

18 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Rugby down under could have hit high gear with Anzac Tests

The New Zealand Ruby Union need to be brave and put their big boy pants on and have it a three or one test series every year until they lose it

8 Go to comments
G
GP 2 hours ago
Ioane Moananu didn't join the Crusaders 'to wait around'

Great interview with Crusaders Hooker Ioane Moananu. He has been in dynamic form throughout. From the home first up win against the Hurricanes through to Saturday nights away win against the Blues. He started in both of those and in others he has been a great super sub when Codie Taylor started. A real friendly guy is Ioane , who is great with the fans.

2 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

It would surely be France’s choice. They 1) didn’t think to talk to, or take, their top players in the first place, and 2) ALL their players want at least a half decent holiday (where other countries’players get an ‘off’ season) so that means getting back ASAP.

18 Go to comments
r
reginaldgarcia 2 hours ago
Crusaders rookie earns 'other than Dupont' praise from All Blacks star

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8 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

No, they don’t.

18 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Sky Sports commentator on why Wallabies players are outplaying All Blacks counterparts

I think you’re just out of the loop, or the one ‘confused’.


I’m pretty sure the people have suggested they targeted the fixtures, but more seriously, you would actually put it down to just luck? You sure you’ve not felt that it was more than mere chance from what you’ve read otherwise?


And I would love to know what stats you looked up LOL

25 Go to comments
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LONG READ Drought-busting win over Brumbies gives Waratahs platform to build on Drought-busting win over Brumbies gives Waratahs platform to build on
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