Michael Hooper hides referee bias accusation behind call for World Rugby to protect Andrea Piardi
Referee Andrea Piardi and an inset of Wallabies legend Michael Hooper
Wallabies legend Michael Hooper has effectively called on World Rugby to ban Andrea Piardi from officiating matches involving Australia.
The former captain issued a protection plea to the game’s governing body for the Italian official when he appeared on the latest episode of Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts.
This comes after Piardi issued four yellow cards to Wallabies players during Les Kiss’ side’s 42-38 victory over the Springboks in Perth last weekend.
Harry Wilson and Hunter Paisami were sanctioned for high tackles whilst Ryan Lonergan was sin-binned after a penalty try was awarded to South Africa following a dominant scrum. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was also sent for a 10-minute spell in the naughty chair after he was deemed to have been offside in defence, erroneously so, with assistant referee Ben O’Keeffe identifying the wrong player.
Despite the Wallabies‘ ill-discipline, they managed to eke out the victory, their first in a match that Piardi has overseen with Australia losing each of the three prior games. They were beaten 22-19 by Ireland in November 2024 with the Italian on the whistle, 29-26 by the British and Irish Lions less than a year later and lost 33-24 against New Zealand during the Rugby Championship last year.
Michael Hooper’s ‘plea’ to World Rugby
After the victory, Hooper still wasn’t pleased with the Italian’s performance, despite the official’s job being made all the more difficult by the breakdown of communications with his TMO and the Wallabies’ inability to play the game within the laws.
“The only comment I want to make, and this might be a bit out of school, and I don’t want it to sound like a bit of a sooky note [a whinge], but I don’t think Andrea Piardi should be allowed to referee Australia again,” the former Wallabies captain said.
It’s an outrageous take from the ex-flanker, who quickly attempted to disguise his accusations that Piardi is biased against Australia by claiming that it would be in the best interest of the referee’s mental health and would prevent social media abuse which has plagued international referees in recent years.
“The reason I say that is not because of what I think about his reffing or him as a referee because I haven’t watched enough of his games as referee in my time, but it should be a World Rugby thing to look after their referees,” he said.
“World Rugby needs to think, ‘Well, there’s been some history now with this referee and this nation’. So last year in the Lions, some other Test matches in the lead-up, including the All Blacks.
Stan Sports commentator and the show’s host Sean Maloney chipped in, adding, “Ireland in Dublin, the missed knock-on.”
“And then this one last night,” Hooper continued. “And unfortunately you do carry scars from previous games and previous fixtures as players going into next match-ups, and I think the referees probably do too. They’re human, and it becomes hard.
“So I think in a duty of care sense he shouldn’t be put in a Wallabies game, again not because of what I think about his refereeing, just because there’s plenty of great referees out in the world and Piardi is certainly a referee that can do it at the top level, but it shouldn’t be with Australia, and I think that should be a World Rugby directive.
“That may be with other nations and other referees as well. So, I think that they should consider that. It doesn’t mean that every nation should come out and say, ‘Oh, we don’t want this referee’ because maybe they’ve had a bad track record. I would like to see them think about that a little bit.
Maloney ended the discussion somberly, stating: “There’s a lot of scar tissue there. I’m sure our listeners and viewers can feel the scar tissue, too. Yuck.”
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Yuck indeed
Yuck indeed. Hooper’s comments stink of an accusation that Piardi is biased against the Wallabies, with the whily former captain hiding his dismay behind a plea to serve the best interests of the referee.
Prior to making his thinly veiled attack on Piardi, Hooper dissected the yellow cards, having received more than his fair share during his illustrious career, and argued that those issued to Australian players were mostly right. He took issue with the Suaalii sin-binning but pinned that decision on assistant referee O’Keeffe. However, he believed that the other yellow cards were the correct calls, remembering the circumstances that Piardi was officiating under.
Hooper begins his bashing by stating that it might be ‘out of school’ and a bit of a ‘sooky note’ and he is right. It was.
Like players, referees are far from perfect and will make mistakes, but in each of those matches that Piardi has officiated, the Wallabies were their worst enemy at times. There is no better example of that than what transpired in Perth. Sure, the one yellow card was issued to the incorrect player, but the other three were as clear-cut as they get, and Lonergan was lucky that his sanction came after the second time that South Africa opted for a scrum from a penalty, as he was yellow-carded for precisely the same action.
In recent seasons, ill-discpline has been the Wallabies’ undoing and have paid the price for some more lenient officiating in Super Rugby Pacific. Hooper shouldn’t be calling for referees to be banned from officiating the Wallabies but instead should be focusing on the coaches and players getting onside with the refs.
The Nic Berry bashing
Let’s not forget that Nic Berry has not officiated a match involving South Africa since Rassie Erasmus’ video during the 2021 British and Irish Lions series.
The Australian official detailed the backlash he faced following the Springboks boss’ criticism of his performance as South Africa lost the opening game of the Test series and said that Erasmus ‘engaged in a character assassination of me on social media’.
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Erasmus would also criticise Wayne Barnes in 2022 via his social media accounts but has learnt his lesson and has repeatedly refused to comment on the performances of officials since. Hooper’s comments are far less direct and abusive than what the Bok coach utilised in his video, but they do follow a similar line of character assassination. He has tried to disguise it by claiming it would be best for Piardi, but it’s rather transparent.
READ MORE: Nic Berry slams Rassie Erasmus’ ‘character assassination’
