Andrea Piardi found himself at the centre of one of the most chaotic finishes to a Test match in recent memory as Australia beat South Africa 42-38 in Perth.
The Wallabies appeared to have the game wrapped up when they raced into a 42-17 lead.
Then everything changed.
Australia received four yellow cards in the closing stages, eventually leaving them with just 11 players as the Springboks launched an extraordinary comeback. The Boks scored 21 unanswered points but ran out of time, with Sky Sports detailing the remarkable finish.
READ MORE: Springboks player ratings: One star gets brutal 2/10 as five flop in chaotic Australia defeat
Piardi was also back in the spotlight. The Italian had previously been forced off during a Six Nations match after suffering an injury.
Four yellow cards
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson was the first to go after his shoulder made contact with Malcolm Marx's head.
Ryan Lonergan followed shortly afterwards as the Springbok scrum piled on the pressure.
Piardi awarded South Africa a penalty try after Lonergan intervened from an offside position, with the scrum-half also sent to the bin.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was next after being caught offside close to the Australian line.
Then came Hunter Paisami.
The centre was shown yellow following a high tackle on Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu during the build-up to what Australia thought was a match-sealing Tom Wright try.
The score was wiped out and Australia were down to 11, with the Daily Maverick's match report detailing how the Wallabies somehow survived the late onslaught.
It looked extraordinary, but the number of cards alone doesn't mean Piardi got the decisions wrong.
Communication chaos
Piardi wasn't helped by what was happening around him.
Technical problems meant his normal communication with the TMO failed during a period packed with major decisions.
At one point, the Italian was forced to use the fourth official's mobile phone to speak to the television officials.
L'Équipe reported on the unusual scenes, which made an already difficult Test even harder to control.
Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus refused to use the officiating as an excuse afterwards and instead praised how the officials dealt with the technology failures.
Breakdown and scrum
Piardi established his breakdown interpretation fairly quickly.
He was prepared to reward defenders who got into strong positions over the ball, with both South Africa and Australia benefiting from holding-on penalties.
Australia also prevented the Springboks from establishing their usual scrum dominance for much of the contest.
That changed late on.
The Springbok scrum finally began to take control and Australia's discipline started to crack under pressure.
RUCK has also taken a closer look at the South African players who struggled, comparing our verdict with ratings from elsewhere.
Fans turn on Andrea Piardi
Reaction on social media was far less forgiving.
One supporter wrote: “Congratulations Andrea Piardi, you have just become the worst referee of all time.”
Another joked there were three certainties in life: “Death. Taxes. Andrea Piardi losing control of a rugby match.”
A third posted: “Andrea Piardi reffing a Test like he's never seen a rugby ball before.”
Another claimed: “Controversy and chaos just follows him.”
Perhaps the most measured assessment came from rugby commentator Wade Gittus.
He wrote: “Personally, I like him & think he's an excellent referee. Tonight he was poor & prob had the worst game of his career.”
However, Gittus also pointed towards the problems surrounding Piardi, adding: “We need to help referees & set them up for success. Australia failed at that tonight.”
Not everyone was critical, with another tongue-in-cheek post declaring Piardi “Ref of the year for sure.”
RUCK verdict
This was about as difficult a final quarter as a referee could face.
Four yellow cards. A penalty try. A disallowed Australian score. Multiple reviews. Broken communications.
Piardi certainly wasn't flawless.
There were moments when the contest felt as though it was getting away from him, while the lengthy stoppages added to the frustration.
However, it's important to separate the chaos surrounding Piardi from the accuracy of his major decisions.
The penalty try and Lonergan yellow were difficult to argue with. Wilson's challenge required action, while Paisami's high tackle was picked up before Wright's apparent try could stand.
Australia's indiscipline also came while they were under enormous pressure from a Springbok side throwing everything at them.
Piardi could have managed parts of the closing stages better, but he also remained composed while being badly let down by the technology around him.
Andrea Piardi grade: B-
A chaotic performance in an even more chaotic game. There were issues with game management, but the four-card finish looked worse than many of the individual decisions themselves.
