Rugby World Cup referee Angus Gardner has openly acknowledged an error he made during a crucial 2018 match when he failed to penalize England’s captain, Owen Farrell, for what appeared to be a no-arms tackle on Andre Esterhuizen.
Gardner, widely recognized as one of the sport’s most esteemed officials, is slated to officiate the upcoming New Zealand semi-final against Argentina on Friday. However, he’ll be hoping to avoid a repetition of the significant controversy stemming from his prior decision.
In a subsequent discussion on the Will Greenwood Podcast a few days after the incident, Gardner candidly admitted that he had misjudged the situation by not penalizing the England fly-half, conceding that he should have awarded a penalty to the visiting team.
“I think in hindsight now, having discussed it with some other referees… I think the general consensus would be that a penalty was probably the outcome there that should have been given,” the referee said.
“I think we need to see a wrap with both arms, and I think in hindsight – although he got pinned – there wasn’t a big enough wrap from both arms, really. There was a wrap with one arm, but there wasn’t a wrap with the other arm.
“Of the angles that I was shown in the stadium at the time, that seemed to me to be enough of a wrap for me to constitute a legal tackle.
“It was never high, and so all we were looking at was the tackle technique. The collision itself also kind of swayed my decision because it was a big rugby collision, and we see these hits in the game.”