Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper has called on World Rugby to prevent Italian referee Andrea Piardi from officiating Australia again.
Hooper argued that there is now “a lot of scar tissue” between the official and the Wallabies.
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Speaking on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts, Hooper said he was not making a judgement on Piardi’s ability as a referee.
He believed World Rugby should consider the history that has developed between the official and Australia when making future appointments.
“I don't think Piardi should be allowed to referee Australia again,” Hooper said.
“The reason I say that is not because of what I think about his reffing or him as referee, because I haven't watched enough of his games as a referee in my time, but it should be a World Rugby thing to look after their referees.”
Hooper’s comments came after Piardi took charge of one of the most chaotic finishes to a Test match in recent memory, as Australia held on for a 42-38 victory over South Africa in Perth.
The Wallabies appeared to be cruising over the World Champions when they opened up a 42-17 lead, but the Springboks mounted a remarkable late comeback after Australia received four yellow cards.
Harry Wilson, Ryan Lonergan, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Hunter Paisami were all sent to the sin bin as South Africa scored 21 unanswered points.
Piardi also awarded South Africa a penalty try following Lonergan’s intervention from an offside position.
Paisami’s yellow card came after a high tackle on Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the build-up to what Australia initially thought was a match-sealing Tom Wright try.
That score was subsequently ruled out.
The dramatic finish was made even more difficult by technical problems, with a failure in the match officials' communication system. Piardi was forced to use the fourth official’s mobile phone to communicate with the TMO.
But Hooper’s argument extends beyond what happened in Perth. The former Australia captain pointed specifically to Piardi’s involvement in the 2025 British & Irish Lions series, as well as other Tests involving Australia and their rivals.
Piardi refereed the second Lions Test against Australia at the MCG, where the tourists clinched the series with a dramatic 29-26 victory.
With Australia leading 26-24 and less than a minute remaining, Lions replacement Jac Morgan cleared out Wallabies flanker Carlo Tizzano at a ruck.
Tizzano appeared to receive contact around the neck, and Australia captain Harry Wilson immediately appealed to Piardi for an intervention.
Following a review with TMO Eric Gauzins, Piardi ruled that Morgan and Tizzano had arrived at the ruck at roughly the same time and that there had been no foul play.
The decision allowed Hugo Keenan's subsequent match winning try to stand, giving the Lions the win and an unassailable 2-0 series lead.
Then-Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt publicly questioned the decision, while Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh subsequently sought an explanation from World Rugby over the call.
World Rugby defended its officials, saying Piardi and his team had reviewed the match and discussed their decisions with the coaching staffs. However, they would not publicly release those discussions.
It is that history which Hooper believes World Rugby should take into account.
“I think World Rugby need to think about, OK, well, there's been some history now with this referee and this nation,” he said.
“So last year in the Lions... some other Test matches in the lead-up, the All Blacks.”
Host Sean Maloney then referenced another controversial Piardi decision involving Ireland in Dublin.
“And unfortunately, you know, you do carry scars from previous games and previous fixtures as players going into next match-ups,” Hooper continued.
“And I think the referees probably do too. They're human and it becomes hard.”
Hooper stressed that he was not arguing Piardi was incapable of refereeing at the highest level.
Instead, he believes World Rugby has a responsibility to avoid placing referees in situations where previous controversies could create additional pressure.
“So, I think in a duty of care sense, he shouldn't be put in a Wallabies game, a Wallabies fixture,” Hooper said.
“Not because of what I think about his refereeing, just because there's plenty of great referees out in the world. Piardi's certainly a referee that can do it at the top level, but it shouldn't be with Australia.”
He suggested the same principle could potentially apply more broadly where there is a significant history between referees and individual nations.
“I think that should be a World Rugby directive and that may be with other nations and other referees as well,” Hooper said.
“It doesn't mean that every nation should come out and say, ‘Oh, we don't want this referee because maybe they've had a bad track record’, but World Rugby needs to think about... I would like to see them think about that a little bit.”
“Enough said. There's a lot of scar tissue there. I'm sure our listeners and viewers can feel the scar tissue too.”
