OPINION:
If you were selecting the referee for the Super Rugby final, who would you want in the middle come July 4?
Based on current form, and referees go through patches of form as much as any player, it would have to be Australia's Angus Gardner.
He takes a lot of stick from fans, or has done in the past, but at the moment Gardner is a referee on top of his game, making the right calls on almost every occasion.
Angus Gardner flashes his red card at Force halfback Ian Prior for a tip tackle on Tim Nanai-Williams.
Tough calls seem to follow Gardner (remember that time he red carded three players in 15 minutes), and Friday night in Hamilton was no different when the Chiefs hosted the Force. Did he continue his streak of making the right calls in the big moments?
Ian Prior red card - Force v Chiefs - 29th minute
Tim Nanai-Williams was causing the Force havoc on Friday night, and stopping the Kiwi-come-Samoan was more difficult than finding a use for algebra in the real world.
Referee Angus Gardner checks a tip tackle from Ian Prior of the Force during their match against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
When Force halfback Ian Prior got his mitts on Nanai-Williams, maybe the excitement got to him and he went way over the top.
Prior lifted Nanai-Williams, mainly around his right leg, then flipped him and drove him into the ground.
Nanai-Williams came into contact with the Waikato Stadium turf with his head and shoulder, but was thankfully unharmed by the tackle.
World Rugby law 10.4 (j), for your reading pleasure, states: "Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player's feet are still off the ground such that the player's head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground is dangerous play."
The sanction is an early shower.
Referee Angus Gardner was within touching distance of the tackle, and immediately called for a Chiefs penalty before heading upstairs for a replay of the incident.
Gardner used the TMO to its full effect, taking an extra moment or two to make sure he comes to the right decision.
As rugby fans, I'm sure nobody minds those extra moments when he comes to the right decision, and Friday was no different.
After a short consultation with his TMO, Gardner pulled the red card from his pocket and sent Prior from the field.
It was the only decision Gardner could have made, and the right one.
Chiefs penalty try - Chiefs v Force - 46th minute
The Chiefs had a scrum just inside the Force 22m line, and the Force decided they only needed seven men to halt the big Chiefs forward pack.
Big mistake.
There have been many great ideas through the years, like the person who invented the resealable plastic wrapper for cheese. It's brilliant because then the cheese doesn't go hard and crusty. We digress.
The Force seven man scrum isn't something that will catch on when playing the Chiefs.
Having shunted the Force pack back about 12 metres, the Force scrum twisted and crumbled like, well, dried out cheese.
Had the Force forwards not crumpled under the pressure, it was obvious that there was only one way the scrum was going to end and that was inside the in-goal.
World Rugby's laws of the game state a penalty try should be awarded "if a player would probably have scored a try but for foul play by an opponent".
Referee Gardner, with the scrum disintegrating about eight metres from the line, blew his whistle and pointed straight under the posts.
It was the right decision from Gardner, and continues a pretty impressive streak for the Australian whistle blower.
- Stuff
