Referees announced for The British & Irish Lions vs The All Blacks.

[Leonormous Boozer]

Really? I always thought that it was generally agreed upon that Nige is the best, especially in the NH.... at least that's the case from what I've seen and heard? I may be wrong...

He was considered the best but in the last couple of years he's really slipped off, if you look at the thread about what Luke Fitzgerald said about him (Do so at your own peril!) you'll see most people are getting fed up of his "wit" and agree he's not what he was. A top class ref who won't affect the result of the game but he still leaves you shouting at the telly if you're any way invested in the game because he misses a lot!

 

[die_mole]

So you are complaining about materiality?

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

So you are complaining about materiality?

You're going to have to explain what you mean there.

 

[ncurd]

I think it was the times he deemed England to have knocked on after dropping the ball when it clearly went backwards against NZ a few years back (twice). I realised he's probably not as hot as people make out. But I don't complain if he's in charge just don't think he's the best.

 

[die_mole]

 

[duncanb]

So for neutral refs in the big scheme of things no surprise really unless any fool has a conspiracy theory.
Oops fools line up.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Well I guess, they went for the more capped neutral referees, which is basically only France, South Africa and Australia that have referees on the elite panel (But I'm unsure if Australia has one currently on that panel). So, by way of elimination, these 3 guys are the obvious choices. South Africa doesn't have Craig Joubert anymore as he has taken up a position with WR as training the young referees, and also assisting with the 7's. And all the other SA referees are fairly new to the international stage.

 

[The Jones Boy]

Owens is the best ref by a country mile,
Gardner is the up and comer.
The rest are different levels of tosh and they can ruin a game in a number of ways.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I don't really care what ref it is. They are always going to miss something they should or give something they shouldn't, most of them at this level are good enough. I just hope they don't go stupid with some yellows for high tackles where the carrier has either slipped or fell into the tackle.

 

[mania]

Gardner Sadly doesn't have enough international test experience yet.

barnes didnt have enough experience when he was given the quarter finals in 2007....yeah i'm still hurting

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

barnes didnt have enough experience when he was given the quarter finals in 2007....yeah i'm still hurting

Too damn right!!! I'll never stop hurting, that day is imprinted (or should I say scarred) in my mind forever...

In all seriousness though, I think it's a shame that Gardner missed out on the Lions gig. He may not have a ton of experience, but he has enough, and I believe that he is easily as good (if not better) than all of the appointed refs. I know for a fact that he is better than Peyper.

 

[mania]

I think it's a shame that Gardner missed out on the Lions gig.

gardner had his worse reffing performance this year when tmo kept interrupting and he made a couple bad calls. despite being wrong more importantly he was prepared to be wrong and corrected one of his calls. If that's the worse he gets it's still sht loads better than most refs.
Gardner s ready for tests now.

 

[Caitlyn Jenner]

gardner had his worse reffing performance this year when tmo kept interrupting and he made a couple bad calls. despite being wrong more importantly he was prepared to be wrong and corrected one of his calls. If that's the worse he gets it's still sht loads better than most refs.
Gardner s ready for tests now.

Couldn't agree more. That's one of the best things about Gardner - He is open-minded and listens to players, but is still a very good, firm comunicator. And there is no sign of arrogance with him - he'll admit that he's wrong and always seems to remain level-headed.
He's gonna be a great ref for many years to come.