France v England referee: Who is Six Nations official Angus Gardner?

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Australia’s Angus Gardner will take charge of France vs England in the final fixture of the Six Nations.

It is a second consecutive week with a championship appointment for Gardner, who replaced the injured Jaco Peyper for the round four clash between Italy and Scotland.

The 39-year-old official took charge of fixtures at the World Cup in the autumn having made his tournament debut as an assistant in England in 2015 before stepping up to the refereeing panel four years later in Japan.

He was selected to oversee this year’s semi-final between New Zealand and Argentina at the Stade de France, his first knockout appointment.

Born in Sydney, Gardner took up refereeing at the age of 15.

He made his Super Rugby debut in 2012, officiating an encounter between the Melbourne Rebels and Queensland Reds.

By that stage, he had already made an international debut – in November 2011, Gardner took charge of an Oceania Cup match between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu in Port Moresby.

A Tier One debut followed five years later, setting Gardner on a pathway to refereeing matches at the 2019 World Cup.

Match officials for France v England in Lyon (Kick off 8pm GMT, Saturday 16 March)

Referee: Angus Gardner (Aus)

ARs: Nika Amashukeli (Geo) & Damian Schneider (Arg)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wal)