Cape Town - Australia’s Angus Gardner has been appointed to referee next Saturday's (August 4) Super Rugby final.
SANZAAR on Friday said the appointment was made “in line with match official selections for the tournament”.
The governing body added via a press statement: “The selection of the match referees for the finals series have been merit-based and have included input from the team head coaches”.
It will be Gardner’s maiden Super Rugby final appointment.
The 33-year-old referee made his Super Rugby debut in 2012 when he refereed the Reds v Rebels in Brisbane. He is now one of the most experienced Super Rugby referees, having refereed 60 Super Rugby matches and in 2018 he has taken charge of 13 matches.
Gardner broke through at senior Test level in 2016 and during 2017 he refereed in all the major Test match windows, including appointments in the Six Nations and Rugby Championship. He has refereed 13 Test matches and has been appointed to referee two Rugby Championship Tests this year - Argentina v South Africa and South Africa v New Zealand.
The other match officials for the Super Rugby final - assistant referees and television match official - will be announced next week following the completion of the semi-finals.
Meanwhile for this Saturday’s semi-finals, New Zealand’s Glen Jackson will referee the match between the Lions and Waratahs in Johannesburg (15:05 kick-off), while South Africa’s Jaco Peyper will be in charge of the earlier encounter between the Crusaders and Hurricanes in Christchurch (09:35 SA time).