
Ireland vs France referee: Who is Six Nations official Angus Gardner?
The 39-year-old official took charge of fixtures at the World Cup in the autumn of 2023 having made his tournament debut as an assistant in England in 2015 before stepping up to the refereeing panel four years later in Japan.
He was selected to oversee the semi-final between New Zealand and Argentina at the Stade de France, his first knockout appointment, establishing him as one of the world's leading officials.
Born in Sydney, Gardner took up refereeing at the age of 15.
He made his Super Rugby debut in 2012, officiating an encounter between the Melbourne Rebels and Queensland Reds.
By that stage, he had already made an international debut – in November 2011, Gardner took charge of an Oceania Cup match between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu in Port Moresby.
A Tier One debut followed five years later, setting Gardner on a pathway to refereeing matches at the 2019 World Cup.
Match officials for Ireland v France in Dublin
Referee: Angus Gardner (Aus)
Television Match Official: Ian Tempest (Eng)

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Wales Online
11 minutes ago
- Wales Online
'I felt like a bag of bones - they told me I might never walk again'
'I felt like a bag of bones - they told me I might never walk again' Maisie Hill was almost killed by the amount of blood she lost Maisie had a major brain bleed, a lacerated liver and a punctured lung from the crash (Image: PA Real Life) A snowboarder who was told she may never walk again after a life-threatening crash left her feeling like a 'bag of bones' is back on the slopes, preparing for next year's Winter Olympics. GB Snowsport freestyle snowboarder Maisie Hill, 24, from Cheltenham, suffered severe injuries in January 2023 while training in Switzerland. Crashing at extreme speeds into a 'wall of ice' while practising a routine rail trick, Maisie said she was almost killed by the amount of blood she lost from a lacerated liver. She was transported by helicopter to Gaubunden Hospital in Chur, Switzerland, where she said she was told she may never walk again. She said the impact also punctured a lung, caused a major brain bleed and broke two vertebrae and four ribs. However, through sheer determination and a 'life-changing' grant from the Olympic Solidarity programme, within nine months Maisie was back on the slopes doing what she loves. She hopes to qualify for the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games in February 2026. 'As I lay on the ground after my crash, I felt like I was a bag of bones that someone had picked up and was jangling,' Maisie told PA Real Life. 'I remember the doctor listing all the injuries I had. It was horrible how many there were, it just went on and on. I was crying, wishing they'd stop talking. 'In my first season competing again (2023-24), I was very scared and was losing confidence in myself. However, I find that smiling every time I get back to the top of the slope helps me perform, reminding me how lucky I am and that I love snowboarding.' Maisie was introduced to snowboarding by her father aged eight on the hill behind their house in Cheltenham. When Maisie was 10 years old, she and her father moved to Morzine in the French Alps. Article continues below 'I didn't love snowboarding at first,' she said. 'But my dad always said I would be really good at it. I owe so much to his belief in me.' Maisie was told she may never walk again after the crash (Image: PA Real Life) By the time she was 16, Maisie said she was excelling in freestyle snowboarding and was invited by GB Snowsport to Laax in Switzerland to join their youth programme. Maisie moved there alone, renting a flat away from the slopes where it was cheaper, walking 20 minutes to a bus each morning. When she turned 18, however, she said she did not make the selection for the British World Cup squad. 'It felt like no-one believed in me, like I was just some silly girl,' she said. However, she knew that hard work and pure determination would get her into the team eventually. She spent the summer of 2021 in Switzerland snowboarding each day on the glacier. To afford it, she said she lived in a tent in Saas Grund, Switzerland and she worked as a cleaner or barista. Her parents, meanwhile, supported her by paying for a private coach, though Maisie understood it was a strain on them and would not last forever. In 2022, aged 21, she said she qualified to compete for Britain at her first World Cup, where she came seventh. Maisie said the following months were the happiest in her life, as she progressed rapidly and was loving every minute of snowboarding. In January 2023, she had just returned from a World Cup in Austria and was preparing for the next competition in Laax, Switzerland. 'It was a foggy day and I was tired,' she explained. 'I was just doing one last run before the tournament the following day. 'I don't know how, but I was going extremely fast and I slipped off a rail. I slammed into an ice wall.' Maisie knew instantly that everything had changed. 'I refused to breathe because I was panicking so much,' she said. 'I couldn't move, couldn't do anything.' Maisie said she was then air-lifted to Gaubunden Hospital in Chur, Switzerland, where she was told she may never walk again. She said she had broken two vertebrae and four ribs, punctured a lung, lacerated her liver and she had a major brain bleed. Despite the severity of her injuries, after her operation Maisie remembers the feeling of being able to wiggle her toes – she said it was a moment of pure relief. After the operation, she moved back to Cheltenham with her mother, and she said Team GB provided physio training. Slowly, she regained her strength, though it was not easy. Maisie said if you work hard enough, 'help will come' (Image: PA Real Life) 'They'd cut open my stomach, and my abs must have stored all my trauma because the first few times I tried to do a sit-up, I cried so emotionally,' she said. That summer in 2023, she said she received an email from the Olympic Solidarity programme, the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) global development initiative, saying she had been selected for a grant, after being nominated by GB Snowsport. 'I thought it was a scam at first,' Maisie said. 'But it was life-changing. I don't think my parents could have continued funding me. Suddenly I thought, 'I'm going to do this!'' The programme offers athletes from around the world a sum of money every four months leading up to the Olympics. 'It's amazing,' she said. 'If you work hard enough, help will come.' James Macleod, IOC Director of NOC Relations, Olympic Solidarity and Olympism365, said: 'Currently 438 athletes from 89 NOCs are receiving a monthly grant from Olympic Solidarity, supporting their journey to the next Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.' In October 2023, Maisie said she was able to go to New Zealand with her team. She said she was so excited by the prospect of snowboarding again that on her first run, she went so fast her coach told her to slow down. Less than a year after her life-threatening crash, she was competing at World Cups again. However, she soon found that her performances were getting worse, that she was losing confidence and was scared. She began working with a sports psychologist, appreciating that there was a lot of mental trauma hindering her performance. 'When I'd have a bad run, I'd be angry with myself,' she said. 'But I found this method, that every time I get back to the top, I find some reason to smile. When I'm smiling, I'm the best version of myself.' After coming fifth at an Austrian World Cup in March, Maisie said she is on track to qualify for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics next February. She hopes her smile and determination will take her there. Article continues below She continued: 'I remember my family watching a tournament on TV when I was younger and they said that I was the only one smiling. Doing it reminds me to make the most of my time and not waste it, and it reminds me that I just love snowboarding. It really works.'


The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
How the expressive Ellie Kildunne emerged as the face of England's home World Cup
Growing up in the rural West Yorkshire village of Riddlesden, Ellie Kildunne had a Roald Dahl quote pinned on her wall. 'Lukewarm is no good,' it read, a maxim which Kildunne has carried with her to the top of her sport. These next few weeks in which she will be the postergirl of a home World Cup that England are overwhelming favourites to win could catapult the 25-year-old to superstardom; it is a good job, then, that Kildunne appears totally at ease with the fame for which she has long felt destined. 'She was playing against my daughter in an under-15 game and I'd never seen anything like it,' former England head coach Simon Middleton once recalled of the first time he had seen Kildunne play. 'Her team went 30 points down and she kept them in it, almost on her own, running in tries and kicking goals from the touchline. You don't see that from many 15-year-olds.' Prepare to see plenty more feats of daring and dynamism from a Red Rose in full bloom as the World Cup begins. With a great shock of curls decorating an upright yet deceptively powerful frame, Kildunne is a smooth mover, with trademark serpentine weaves in and out of contact employed to devastating effect since her introduction to international rugby as a teenager. Off the pitch, too, she will be tough to miss; brand deals with Asahi, LG, Canterbury and others befit her status as World Player of the Year. It would be easy to fatigue given the prominence afforded her even within a standard-setting side, but Kildunne's natural charisma and charm has been clear in every media engagement ahead of a tournament of which she may become the face. 'I haven't even scratched my potential yet,' Kildunne told The Independent, ominously, last year, clutching the individual award earned by a superlative 2024 that brought Six Nations and WXV success and a foray back to sevens at the Paris Olympics. If such bold declarations are typical of athletes with her sort of stratospheric ambition, it was nonetheless delivered with the conviction of a certain truth. For there is still a sense that Kildunne is still figuring out the game. Catapulted into an England environment at the age of 18, there was a sense that neither player nor individual quite knew what to do with the raw talent at their disposal. Deployed at full-back on a bit of a hunch – the teenage Kildunne was pretty unfamiliar with the position – flashes of supreme athletic talent were mixed with the growing pains of youth; while Abby Dow and Jess Breach, the other prongs in England's back three triumvirate who made their debut in the same game, soon established their place in the senior side, it took a couple of seasons on the sevens circuit for Kildunne to really make her name. Even by the time of the last World Cup, when her star was fully on the rise, she likely wouldn't have started the final if not for Helena Rowland's injury. "The disappointment and the heartbreak of the last World Cup reignited a flame inside me that I already thought was burning pretty bright," she said ahead of her second tournament. "We've learnt so much from that tournament and built so much in our culture that we're in a completely different space. It's something that you can rewrite and that's something that we're very much focused on. It's not a revenge story, we're just rewriting." But the heartbreak and hard lessons of a relatively tough first major tournament have driven Kildunne to new heights. Growing up, the youngster sported the Liverpool shirts of first sporting heroes like Fernando Torres; now it is her name emblazoned of the backs of a growing legion amidst the swelling army of Red Roses fans. Even among a squad of outstanding ambassadors and engaging personalities, the full-back stands out for her unique connection with her audience. Authentically herself, Kildunne has thrived under John Mitchell in an environment that has encouraged its players to show their personalities on and off the pitch. Her lasso celebration, born at WXV in 2023 with the forming of a 'Cowboys' group within the squad of which Meg Jones is the 'Sheriff', has begun to be imitated on the terraces; when 500 Red Roses cowboy hats were crafted ahead of the Women's Six Nations decider against France, supposedly at the personal request of RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney, the accoutrements sold out almost two hours before kick off. Away from the pitch, Kildunne's expressive edge is clear. A keen photographer and fashion designer, she has worked with clothing brands and O2 to fight the gender awareness gap with a bespoke range of apparel; new boots will be sported during the World Cup featuring a design very much reflecting her character. But elite teams are not picked on popularity or personality alone, and Kildunne has had to work hard to really take command of her starting spot. A tendency to try to do too much herself from earlier in her career, often with success, has been eschewed by a maturing full-back increasingly getting the best out of others as well. Yet Kildunne knows that the intensity of the spotlight upon her will add scrutiny - but the bright lights have never really bothered her. "It will add that target on to my back; I see it as pressure but I don't think pressure is a bad thing," she stressed ahead of the tournament. "I see pressure as a privilege and I definitely think it's a good thing. I use the pressure to challenge myself to exceed people's expectations and to rewrite what people may think I can do and take it to the next level. "I'm feeling strong and confident - the most confident I've ever felt - so I'm ready and raring to go."


Daily Record
42 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Celtic star puts contract talks on back burner as Kwon makes headlines after debut vs PSG
The Hoops are also locked in talks with a Championship club over a possible cooperation agreement Kasper Schmeichel insists he isn't thinking about his Celtic future as he puts contract talks on the back burner. The veteran keeper turns 39 in November and has set his sights on starring for Denmark at next summer's World Cup. Schmeichel – who replaced Joe Hart between the sticks at Parkhead last summer – hasn't thought about retirement just yet. 'No, that's just not how we operate right now,' he told STV. 'There's a massive game and all focus is on that. 'I can't imagine that's important to them or to me, at the moment. 'I've got a contract and it is what it is at the moment. We'll take that at some point.' Meanwhile, Celts are planning for the future, with young shotstopper Marcus Gill close to agreeing on a new contract. Elsewhere, former midfielder Kwon has caught the eye in France after an impressive debut against Champions League winners PSG. The South Korean was flogged to Nantes during the summer, having failed to make a single competitive appearance for Celtic since arriving from Busan I-Park in 2023. Kwon - who had mixed loan stints at St Mirren and Hibs - made his Nantes debut on Sunday as the new French top-flight season got underway. The 24-year-old didn't look out of place as he came up against PSG superstars Vitinha, Fabio Ruiz and countryman Lee Kang-in in the middle of the park. Kwon put in the hard yards before being subbed for ex-Arsenal ace Francis Coquelin in the final 10 minutes as PSG edged out 1-0 winners. And the official Ligue 1 social media accounts marked Kwon's promising start on X, sharing a picture and writing: "Kwon and Lee, South Korean talents shining in Ligue 1." Finally, Shaun Maloney is leading talks with Inverness Caley Thistle over a possible cooperation agreement with Celtic. Caley Thistle interim chief executive Charlie Christie revealed he met with the Parkhead club's professional player pathway manager. He told the Inverness Courier: 'We have been offered it by two or three clubs. Shaun Maloney drove up from Glasgow and said to me that they had done the data on the way Caley Thistle play. 'He said that we are only one of two clubs in League One that they would put players to and that is compliment to Scott Kellacher. Celtic is one we are looking at.' Celtic already have an agreement with Championship side Ayr United, which allows youngsters between 16-21 to move between the parent and cooperation teams throughout the season to increase playing time.