At last, SANZAAR has got it right, with Angus Gardner to referee the Super Rugby final irrespective of which teams qualify.
The 33-year-old Australian missed out on a semi-final appointment with South African Jaco Peyper to referee the Crusaders-Hurricanes clash in Christchurch, and Kiwi Glen Jackson the Lions-Waratahs game in Johannesburg.
But Gardner is the best referee ahead of Jackson, Peyper, and another South African, Marius van der Westhuizen, in that order.
Gardner began his career as a 15-year-old at Shore, the GPS school at North Sydney, to become a Super Rugby referee in 2012, and has since chalked up 60 games and 15 internationals.
His last Test, between the All Blacks and France at Wellington, drew praise from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen – who rarely makes any comments about referees.
Gardner’s last Super Rugby game was the quarter-final clash between the Waratahs and the Highlanders.
If the TAB has got it right, next weeks final will be between the Crusaders and the Lions in Christchurch.
The Crusaders are $1.32, the Hurricanes $3.65, the Lions $1.27, and Waratahs $4.
But for mine, the $4 on offer for the Waratahs is a damn good bet, even though there are plenty of pluses in the Lions’ favour.
They are playing at altitude in front of their very rowdy home crowd, and are the most consistent franchise over the last two seasons in making both finals.
That they lost both to the Hurricanes, and the Crusaders, has made them very focused for tonight.
Much has been written and spoken of the Lions’ pack, and how it will dominate this evening.
But the figures don’t agree.
The Lions’ pack will consist of Jacques van Rooyen (132 kg), Malcolm Marx (114), Ruen Dreyer (110), Marvin Orie (111), Franco Mostert (108), Kwagga Smith (94), Lourens Erasmus (116), and the skipper Warren Whiteley at 105.
The Waratahs have Tom Robertson (108), Tolu Latu (110), Sekope Kepu (125), Jed Holloway (116), Rob Simmons (115), Ned Hanigan (110), Will Miller (95), and Michael Wells tipping the scales at 108.
The Lions just edge out the Waratahs 890 kgs to 887.
They do the same with the tall timbers. Four of the seven tallest players on the field will be Lions, with Erasmus (200 cm), Orie (198) Mostert (196) and Whiteley (193) just edging out Simmons (200), Holloway (195) and Hanigan (194).
But all the Waratah play-makers in Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, and Bernard Foley will be asking of their pack will be to compete from the kick-off with controlled possession for the next 80 minutes.
The pack can do just that but, to be brutally honest, they can also go to sleep, give away far too many penalties – or both.
But if they can get it right for most of the journey, there’s no doubting the Beale-Folau-Foley combination can run away with the semi if they click in attack, and Foley, the tournament’s leading points scorer, has his kicking boots on in the rare air.
In the other semi, Super Rugby’s greatest performer the Crusaders should account for the Hurricanes.
In the 23-year history of Super Rugby, tonight will be the Crusaders 18th semi, winning 12 and losing five.
And to cap the domination, the Crusaders have won the coveted title eight times, five times more than their closest rival the Blues, and the Bulls, with three each.
So let’s have a Crusaders-Waratahs final like 2014, with the same result.
Loftus
Guest
Neutral referees in all matches is the way to go to give this tournament it's credibility back. Anyone opposed to this, can go and watch Glen Jackson helping the Highlanders to a 1 point win over the Bulls at Loftus a couple of weeks back. You will not find more biased officiating this season.
Mark
Guest
Oh Dear Angus isn't very good In fact he's bloody attrocious I can understand why you Convicts think he's good You lot haven't a clue You thought Stuart Dickenson was brilliant and he was one of the worst refs of all time
Superba
Guest
It doesn't matter who refs the final as the Crusaders will win whoever the ref might be .
taylorman
Roar Guru
Maybe, but as freddies also pointed out, theres also a created bias, where fans lump the result on a ref regardless. Never mind five missed tackles that lead to a try or two during the match, lets focus on one poor decision, call the ref biased, and voila, the perception of bias is realised. The amount of bias within fans is ten times the amount of any ref out there this year. Oz sides have had it pretty good over the years. They didnt have a Barnes, a Lawrence, a Joubert, though they did have a Joubert in their favour...twice. This year its come home to roost. Oz teams are getting the pinch side of the ledger, and, are letting everyone know about it, big time.
taylorman
Roar Guru
In all honesty, I think they announced it to restate their policy in not bowing to the neutral call. Theyre saying hes our best so deserves the final. Whats the alternative for ‘the best’ ? Tell him youre the best, but you cant ref this final because the perception is youll favour one side. Great position to hold.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Understand that view but I maintain that those pushing for neutrality at Super level need to be consistent. Neutrality is about avoiding the perception of bias because actual bias has NEVER been proven. So if one week youre going to slam the non neutral appointments when your side is away to SA, you cant adjust that view for a potential oz ref for an oz final by simply changing the focus of the article, i.e. on congratulating Gardner without acknowledgong that switch. Its a clear case of pot kettle black...accusing bias through the neutral argument, then applying that very basis to your own side. Thats why I support the SANZAAR position. Because if theres bias at Super level, its predominantly in the minds of the fans.
Fionn
Guest
So, would you prefer neutral referees or the best referee?
David Lord
Expert
Let's clear up this referee mess once and for all. World Rugby and SANZAAR have totally different concepts. World Rugby had a dozen referees on its panel for the 2015 Rugby World Cup - three each from England and France, two each from New Zealand and South Africa, and one each from Wales and Ireland. NOT ONE refereed their own country, they were all neutral: Quarter finals: Boks v Wales - Wayne Barnes (England), All Blacks v France - Nigel Owens (Wales) Ireland v Pumas - Jerome Garces (France) Wallabies v Scotland - Craig Joubert (South Africa) Semis: Boks v All Black - Jerome Garces (France). Wallabies v Pumas - Wayne Barnes (England) Bronze medal: Boks v Pumas - John Lacey (Ireland) RWC final: All Blacks v Wallabies - Nigel Owen (Wales). Neutral referees throughout the tournament. SANZAAR has a panel of 17 referees - seven from New Zealand, five from South Africa, three from Australia, and one each from Argentina and Japan. Throughout the tournament there have been many non-neutral appointments. Quarter finals: Hurricanes v Chiefs - Glen Jackson (New Zealand) Crusaders v Sharks - Mike Fraser (New Zealand) Waratahs v Highlanders - Angus Gardner (Australia) Lions-Jaguares - Jaco Peyper (South Africa) Not one neutral. Semis: Crusaders v Hurricanes - Jaco Peyper (South Africa) Lions v Waratahs (Glen Jackson (New Zealand) Both neutral. But they weren't the original selections, they were exactly the opposite. But there was such a stink over the quarters non-neutral appointments, probably to save on air fares and accommodation, the stink forced a switch too what it is tonight. Angus Gardner is without peer as the best Super Rugby referee, and he's been awarded the final on ability alone. Seeing SANZAAR doesn't give a toss about neutrality, Gardner deserves the big one even if the Waratahs make the final. That's the SANZAAR way, very different from the World Rugby way.
Everything these days are about perceptions. Real or percieved bias is a real issue. Remove it from the equation
Sadly for the Tahs he has retired
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Hi T/man, What gets me mate, is why did SANZAAR allocate the ref for the final, before the semi's have been decided? Just another reason, to show what a terrible job they have made of the way this competition is run? Hopefully they do start to get their crap together, before next years comp, gets under way. There are quite a few issue's at hand ATM.
freddieeffer
Guest
I think ongoing debate about the 'need' for neutrality in refs is really quite off-the-mark. If we accept the notion that there is a demonstrable need for neutrality, then correspondingly, we also have to accept that a certain ref(s) intentionally officiate in a pre-meditated and biased way, or they unintentionally officiate in a biased way. Given the layers of SANZAAR rugby governance, officials performance management and administrative processes open to SR franchises; if they have concerns or problems, refereeing incompetence or unprofessionalism would surely and quickly get under the SANZAAR microscope. If a SR ref demonstrates below par refereeing, then they would be demoted in the short-term, and possibly permanently if they continued being incompetent. Alternatively, if a SR ref is assessed and found to be demonstrating unintentional bias, then this is a breach of their professional obligations, and they surely would be relieved of their duties forthwith. My point is that whinging about refs and neutrality is a furphy at this level. There is a massive difference between real or perceived bias. Fans of a losing team typically react by blaming the ref for being biased. This is their perception, unless there were blatant howlers that the ref missed that negatively affected one team that amounted to the losing difference in the final score. Real bias, needs to be provable. It needs to be examined in a way that conclusively establishes fact. I'm not aware if real bias has actually been established in the current ranks of SANZAAR refs. Until then, opinions on the matter is muck-raking, and says more about the person making those claims rather than the ref they're defaming. As a long suffering Wallabies supporter, they lost the recent 3 test series against Ireland not in the 80th minute in the 3rd test with refereeing conjecture about an a possible intentional knock-on by Ireland from Foley's pass with the tryline there for the taking. The Wallabies lost the series in the second test by giving away 4 easily kickable penalties that Sexton promptly put straight over. There's 12 points the Wallabies gifted Ireland, and Ireland won that game by 5 points. If you play dumb footie, the ref will see it and ping you sooner rather than later. So to all those inclined to claim bias against a ref, before you do that, how about you go and closely examine your team and see whether there were ways in which they lost the game through their own fault and/or under-par performance. I'm harsh on my team, never the ref.
Gumboot
Guest
$4 sounds about right but then again if Kearnsy was the ref the odds would probably be about $1.50. If King David Lord was the ref then the odds would probably be anywhere between the flip and the converted flop. C'mon, how does DL get away with this nonsense? One minute he's Arthur, the next minute he's Martha Lawwdy Lord have mercy, turn the other cheek for Davo for he knows not what he says or does let alone writes.
Gumboot
Guest
Just to throw a cat amongst the pigeons, if the Tah's win as well as the Lions for the final then perhaps the die hard fans should demand that Bryce Lawrence should be the ref and have the last word. Poetic justice. Murphy's law??? Or just dumb journalism from a flip flop (Jandal) ?? Oh my lawwd, heaven for betsy
Fionn
Guest
Hurricanes*
taylorman
Roar Guru
True, not bad.
Fionn
Guest
I personally think the Lions will likely win, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Tahs upset them. They've played good rugby this season, and the Lions have been very hot and cold. Either way, as much as I respect the Crusaders and love the way the Highlanders play, I'd love the winner of the Highlanders-Waratahs to take the title.
Adsa
Guest
Sannzaar have appointed Gardener as Ref as they know the tahs will get spanked tonight and it will be a neutral Ref next week - pretty logical choice really.
Paul D
Roar Rookie
Here just for the comments as I stoppped reading DL articles a while ago. But $4 for the Tahs? If i gambled I'd be having a go at that!
taylorman
Roar Guru
I think all it does is confirm nobody knows what they want. David clearly wants the best ref for the tahs case, proved by his articles on the matter. Neutrality is only an issue if the alternative might impact your team. If SANZAAR have deemed Gardner the best ref then Im happy for him to Ref a Tahs final...for that reason. Those tahs fans will be over the moon for the fact that hes ozzie, not that theyll admit it...subconsviously of course, but bet you wont see hordes of complaints. The neutral argument is by its nature....fickle, because its only wanted when the alternative is more dire. Sad.