Rugby referee Luke Pearce was forced to put an online troll in his place following a unprovoked attack on Twitter.
The user wrote: “Having met him numerous times his arrogance and overall demeanour is shocking.
“He thinking he’s gods gift, mate you’re a whistleblower.
“The best refs in the world you have no idea who they are as they don’t try to get their TV time or get into the game.”
Pearce responded with a simple three word tweet, writing: “Chill out, Jack.”
Jack has since deleted his tweet.
LIST: Fans rank the 5 best rugby referees in the world
Love them or loathe them, without referees, there would be no game of rugby union.
As a result, RUCK asked fans to debate who are the best rugby referees in the world.
Of course, criticism of officials often comes with the territory, but every so often, a referee has a game that makes the sport’s fraternity stand up and take notice.
Here are, according to fans, the five best rugby union referees at present.
5. Angus Gardner (Australia)
As a teenager, he was a keen rugby player until he was diagnosed with Scheuermann’s Disease [a hereditary disc condition].
Gardner refereed his first international match in 2011, taking charge of Papua New Guinea vs Vanuatu. A year later he refereed his first Super Rugby fixture, Queensland Reds vs Melbourne Rebels.
In 2018, he refereed the Super Rugby final, and the same year he went on to win World Rugby’s Referee of the Year award.
