The All Blacks may have been given a slight advantage ahead of Saturday’s crucial Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry second test against the Springboks with a crucial change of referee for the contest.
World Rugby confirmed that Angus Gardner of Australia will take charge of the whistle after Georgia’s Nika Amashukeli took ill and won’t recover in time. Amashukeli will referee the third test next week in Johannesburg instead as Gardner was due to referee that one.
With the Springboks under pressure to win the second test and keep the series alive, the Boks would be understandably concerned about Gardner as he has a long history with the All Blacks and referees in Super Rugby, where many of the players play.
Super Rugby tends to be more lenient on transgressions - including head high shots - and places less emphasis on the scrums, both areas the Boks will want policed during the second test.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has praised Amashukeli in the past as “being his own man” and the Boks enjoy his style of refereeing, while they have had some issues in the past with Gardner.
The Australian was at the centre of the controversy when Andre Esterhuizen was tackled high by Owen Farrell during a matche between the Springboks and England at Twickenham, which was clearly high with no arms wrapped but Gardner ruled it a legal tackle, allowing England to sneak home 12-11.
Gardner later admitted on a podcast he was incorrect in his assessment of the tackle and the Boks buried the hatchet.
Since then he has refereed the Boks several times, including the loss against Wales in Bloemfontein in 2022, the win over the All Blacks in Mbombela in 2022 and wins over England, Scotland and Argentina since then. He also refereed the 14-man win over France last year where the Boks triumphed despite Franco Mostert’s red card.
The Mbombela game was the last time he refereed the Boks and All Blacks, but he was also on the whistle when the Lions took on the All Blacks on Tuesday night at Ellis Park.
Brett Cronan (Australia) will act as his Television Match Official with Eric Gauzins (France) becoming Foul Play Review Officer and Sam Grove-White (Scotland) replacing Gardner as an assistant referee.
The updated appointments are:
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referee 1: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referee 2: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Amashukeli will now referee the third test of the series in Johannesburg on 5 September, instead of Gardner with Gauzins as his TMO with the Australian official to act as his assistant referee.
The updated appointments are:
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referee 1: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referee 2: Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
FPRO: Brett Cronan (Australia)