Latest news with #AndreaPiardi
The Journal
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The Journal
Piardi, Amashukeli, and O'Keeffe to referee Lions Tests
WORLD RUGBY HAS confirmed that Andrea Piardi, Nika Amashukeli, and Ben O'Keeffe will referee the three Tests between the British & Irish Lions and Australia this summer. New Zealand's O'Keeffe will referee the first Test in Brisbane, Italian referee Andrea Piardi will be in charge for the second clash in Melbourne, and Georgian official Nika Amashukeli will be on the whistle for the final Test in Sydney. Advertisement 32-year-old Piardi and 30-year-old Amashukeli will become the first Italian and Georgian to referee British and Irish Lions Tests. The same trio of match officials will act as assistant referees for each of the three games Down Under, while Marius Jonker, Richard Kelly, and Eric Gauzins will rotate as the television match officials [TMOs] and foul play review officers [FPROs]. James Doleman, O'Keeffe, Paul Williams, Pierre Brousset, and Piardi will referee the Lions' warm-up games ahead of their three clashes with the Wallabies. Before travelling to Australia for the Lions Test, Piardi will referee Ireland's clash with Georgia on 5 July. Adam Leal and Ben Whitehouse will be his assistants for that game in Tbilisi, with Matteo Liperini on TMO duty. English referee Leal will take charge of Ireland's second summer Test against Portugal in Lisbon on 12 July. He will be assisted by Whitehouse and Anthony Woodthorpe, with Liperini named as the TMO again. For a full list of World Rugby's match official appointments for the men's July internationals, click here .
Irish Independent
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Italian referee Andrea Piardi – who was at centre of Munster sub storm – to take charge of British & Irish Lions Test
Andrea Piardi, the Italian referee at the centre of the sub storm involving Munster last month, has been selected to referee one of this summer's three British & Irish Lions Test clashes in Australia.
The 42
01-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Piardi, Amashukeli, and O'Keeffe to referee Lions Tests
WORLD RUGBY HAS confirmed that Andrea Piardi, Nika Amashukeli, and Ben O'Keeffe will referee the three Tests between the British & Irish Lions and Australia this summer. New Zealand's O'Keeffe will referee the first Test in Brisbane, Italian referee Andrea Piardi will be in charge for the second clash in Melbourne, and Georgian official Nika Amashukeli will be on the whistle for the final Test in Sydney. Advertisement 32-year-old Piardi and 30-year-old Amashukeli will become the first Italian and Georgian to referee British and Irish Lions Tests. The same trio of match officials will act as assistant referees for each of the three games Down Under, while Marius Jonker, Richard Kelly, and Eric Gauzins will rotate as the television match officials [TMOs] and foul play review officers [FPROs]. James Doleman, O'Keeffe, Paul Williams, Pierre Brousset, and Piardi will referee the Lions' warm-up games ahead of their three clashes with the Wallabies. Before travelling to Australia for the Lions Test, Piardi will referee Ireland's clash with Georgia on 5 July. Adam Leal and Ben Whitehouse will be his assistants for that game in Tbilisi, with Matteo Liperini on TMO duty. English referee Leal will take charge of Ireland's second summer Test against Portugal in Lisbon on 12 July. He will be assisted by Whitehouse and Anthony Woodthorpe, with Liperini named as the TMO again. For a full list of World Rugby's match official appointments for the men's July internationals, click here.
The 42
25-04-2025
- Sport
- The 42
URC says faulty app contributed to 14-man farce during Munster-Bulls clash
THE UNITED RUGBY Championship has said that an app malfunction contributed to the farce which saw Munster incorrectly reduced by a man for 14 minutes during last Saturday's defeat to the Bulls at Thomond Park. Andrea Piardi and his officiating team erroneously reduced the hosts to 14 men for almost a quarter of an hour after Munster lost both tightheads to injury. After Oli Jager went off in the first half for a HIA, which he failed, and Stephen Archer was subsequently injured in the second half, Italian referee Piardi correctly switched to uncontested scrums for the remainder of the contest. However, Piardi and his match-officiating team additionally dictated to Munster that they withdraw a further player, failing to recognise that this provision in World Rugby's laws — which is designed to prevent sides with weaker scrums from gaming the system — did not apply to a situation in which one of Munster's front rows had gone off with a head injury. Munster eventually identified the error and, after consultation with the touchline officials, back row Alex Kendellen was allowed to return to the field of play after Munster had unjustly played with a man less for 14 minutes. A URC statement on Friday confirmed that the league's head of officials, Tappe Henning, had been in contact with Munster to acknowledge the error. The league said that 'a full review of the process was conducted', from which one of the outcomes was that referees were reminded that 'they must own the process' and that they are 'ultimately responsible and accountable for the final decision of the correctness of any substitutions and all decisions during a match'. Advertisement However, the URC partly attributed Saturday's mishap to a malfunction within the app which is typically used to register substitutions and alert officials to any irregularities. 'Normally, the technical officials would have entered the player exchange information into the sideline management app on a tablet which would have flagged that Munster did not need to be reduce their team by one player in this situation,' said a URC statement. 'However, performance issues meant the app was not working correctly and with an incorrect interpretation of the laws, the technical zone officials incorrectly confirmed to the match referee that Munster had to play with 14 players.' Andrea Piardi, who has been mooted to referee a Lions Test this summer, is not on duty for any URC games this weekend but the league insisted that he has not been stood down, but rather that he was never scheduled to work during Round 16. The URC said that 'a full review of the process was conducted' following Saturday's faux pas at Thomond Park, and that 'learnings were gathered'. The league determined that the following actions be taken: 'Referees will be made aware that they must own the process and reminded that they are ultimately responsible and accountable for the final decision of the correctness of any substitutions and all decisions during a match. 'All documents regarding technical zone protocols and the uncontested scrum table circulated at the start of the season will be circulated again as a point of emphasis for match officials, technical zone officials and club personnel. Protocols for referees and technical zone officials also updated. 'Continuation of on-going training and law interpretation for technical zone officials and club personnel.' Saturday's incident marked the second time this season that Munster were incorrectly reduced to 14 men due to an officiating error. A similar incident occurred during their October defeat to Leinster at Croke Park.
Wales Online
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
URC release statement and refute 'entirely untrue' reports following controversy
URC release statement and refute 'entirely untrue' reports following controversy It comes after a hugely controversial moment in the race for the play-offs Piardi was slammed for his actions during Munster's defeat to the Bulls The United Rugby Championship has refuted "entirely untrue" reports surrounding referee Andrea Piardi after he found himself at the centre of a major controversy last weekend. The Italian official was the man in the middle for Munster's clash with the Bulls at Thomond Park last Saturday, when he mistakenly reduced the Irish side to 14 men following injuries to both of their tighthead props. After Oli Jager came off in the first half for an HIA and failed it, his replacement Stephen Archer took to the pitch only to suffer a contact injury early on in the second half. As a result, uncontested scrums were enforced, but Piardi also mistakenly ordered Munster to remove one of their players from the action, which would have only been the correct decision had both Jager and Archer suffered contact injuries. Munster were then left a man down for the next 14 minutes, before flanker Alex Kendellen was allowed to return to the field. Article continues below The Bulls were not able to capitalise on their man advantage during that period, but they did ultimately win 16-13 which could majorly cost Munster if they fail to qualify for the URC play-offs or next season's Champions Cup. The Irish province take on Cardiff at the Arms Park tonight in a huge match for their play-off hopes, as they currently trail the Welsh side by a single point in the table. Following last weekend's match, Piardi was widely slammed for his actions and was not included in the list of officials for this weekend's URC fixtures, leading to reports that he had been removed from a scheduled appointment. 25% OFF DEAL: Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. However, the league have now intervened to explain that the Italian referee "was not originally scheduled to officiate in Round 16 this weekend" with "suggestions that he has been removed from an appointment.. entirely untrue." In a statement issued on Friday, clarity was also given around the events of last Saturday, with an incorrectly working app and "incorrect interpretation of the laws" at the centre of the controversy. "Due to enforced replacements being made for both of Munster's tighthead props during the first and second halves, the teams were forced by Law 3.13 to adopt uncontested scrums in the 52nd minute due to a lack of specialist player at that position," the statement read. "At this point it was deemed by the match officials that based upon Law 3.20 that Munster would have to reduce their team to 14 players. The match referee Andrea Piardi consulted with the technical zone officials to ensure this was the correct interpretation of the Law. "Normally, the technical officials would have entered the player exchange information into the sideline management app on a tablet which would have flagged that Munster did not need to be reduce their team by one player in this situation. However, performance issues meant the app was not working correctly and with an incorrect interpretation of the laws, the technical zone officials incorrectly confirmed to the match referee that Munster had to play with 14 players." Acknowledging the error, the statement continued: "In this situation, Munster nominated Alex Kendellen (No 8) to leave the field. Soon after the reduction in players, Munster queried the error with the technical zone officials in interpreting Law 3.20. "The correct interpretation of Law 3.20 in this situation is applied as follows: In the First Event, Munster tighthead, Oli Jager (No 3) is removed in the 15th minute for a Head Injury Assessment (HIA). He is replaced by Stephen Archer (No 18) who remains on the field after Jager did not return to play. "In the Second Event, Archer is removed in the 52nd minute of the game due to a Contact Injury and could not return. In this situation, it was correctly decided that the game would proceed with uncontested scrums. The removal of an additional Munster player was incorrect. "Additional players are only removed in situations where both specialist tightheads have suffered Contact Injuries; OR a Contact Injury to one player has been followed by a Yellow or Red Card to the replacement; OR a Yellow or Red Card to a player is followed by another card to the replacement The error was recognised and the removed player, Kendellen, returned to the field of play in the 66th minute." The statement added that the URC's Head of Match Officials, Tappe Henning, had contacted the Munster coaching staff to acknowledge the mistake, with a full review carried out and "learnings gathered". Following the review, the league said three main actions are now being taken. Article continues below "Referees will be made aware that they must own the process and reminded that they are ultimately responsible and accountable for the final decision of the correctness of any substitutions and all decisions during a match," the statement added. "All documents regarding Technical Zone Protocols and the Uncontested Scrum Table circulated at the start of the season will be circulated again as a point of emphasis for match officials, technical zone officials and club personnel. "Protocols for referees and technical zone officials [will be] updated [and there will be] continuation of on-going training and law interpretation for Technical zone officials and club personnel."
