The stage is about for an enormous Six Nations conflict as Scotland and France face one another in a match that would verify the match winners.
Watch the Guinness Six Nations at your native Greene King sports pub.
Angus Gardner to referee Scotland vs France
The referee for Scotland vs France is Angus Gardner, one of the skilled officers in world rugby.
Born in Sydney in 1984, Gardner was a passionate rugby participant as a youngster. However, his taking part in profession was lower quick when he was identified with Scheuermann’s Disease, a hereditary spinal disc situation.
Recalling the second he was compelled to cease taking part in, Gardner informed the Sydney Morning Herald:
“The doctor was like ‘mate, you need to take up fishing’ and that was devastating to hear.”
Instead, one in every of his academics steered refereeing as a option to keep concerned within the sport. Gardner picked up the whistle at simply 15 years outdated, starting the trail that might take him to the highest of worldwide rugby.
Rise by way of the refereeing ranks
Gardner turned a full-time skilled referee in 2015, though he had already taken cost of his first Test match in 2011, officiating an Oceania Cup fixture between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
His fast rise continued when he made his Super Rugby debut in 2012, refereeing the conflict between the Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium.
That identical 12 months he was appointed to the IRB Junior World Championship, returning once more in 2014, the place he refereed the semi-final between England and Ireland.
Gardner’s status continued to develop:
- Assistant referee on the 2015 Rugby World Cup
- Referee for the Super Rugby Final in 2018
- World Rugby Referee of the Year in 2018
- Match official on the 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2023 Rugby World Cup
At the 2023 Rugby World Cup, he took cost of the Argentina v New Zealand semi-final on the Stade de France.
France ‘screwed’
Gardner beforehand discovered himself in France’s dangerous books in the course of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
France edged Argentina 23-21 of their pool match in Tokyo, because of a late Camille Lopez drop-goal.
However, the sport sparked complaints from the French camp afterwards.
Captain Guilhem Guirado claimed Argentina have been repeatedly participating early on the scrum, regardless of new guidelines banning the apply, and accused Gardner of failing to penalise it.
“We worked for weeks not to engage early,” Guirado informed L’Equipe.
“On the first three scrums they put pressure on us and the referee didn’t say much.”
Prop Jefferson Poirot was much more blunt in his verdict after the match:
“We got screwed.”
Following the controversy, Gardner was faraway from the officiating team for Argentina’s subsequent sport in opposition to England, the place he had initially been scheduled to behave as an assistant referee. Reports on the time steered he had confronted inside criticism for his efficiency, with Ben O’Keeffe stepping in for the England fixture.
