Top Australian referees to control Tests

Top Australia referees Nic Berry and Angus Gardner are going to control the Flying Fijans two Test matches against the All Blacks.

Berry will control the first Test set for next Saturday at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.

He is a former professional player whose career saw him have stints with the Queensland Reds, Racing 92 (Paris) and London Wasps.

His playing career was cut short in 2013 when a series of head concussions forced him into early retirement.

Berry began refereeing in 2015 and quickly ascended through the national ranks joining the Super Rugby panel in 2016.

In 2017, he officiated the final at the Under-20’s World Championships and broke onto the World Rugby panel later that year officiating the encounter between Scotland and Samoa.

He has since refereed a number of tests including his first Tier 1 test match in 2018 between Ireland and Argentina.

In 2019 he refereed in the 2019 Six Nations and in 2020 he will referee Ireland v Italy, following a quarter-final referee appointment at RWC 2019 in Japan. This is his fifth year in Super Rugby and he is now one of the more experienced tournament referees.

Gardner

The second Test to be played at the FMG Stadium Waikato in Hamilton on July 17, will be controlled by Gardner.

He started refereeing in 1999 at age 15 at Shore School in North Sydney after injuring his back. He made his Super Rugby debut in 2012 and broke through at tier 1 test level in 2016 and has refereed in all the major test match windows since then, including 6 Nations and The Rugby Championship.

He is now one of the most experienced Super Rugby referees having taken charge of 72 matches.

In 2018 Gardner refereed his first Super Rugby Final, between the Crusaders and Lions in Christchurch, and he was named the World Rugby Referee of the Year. In 2019 he refereed 10 Super Rugby matches and refereed at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.