England v Ireland referee Andrea Piardi was backed by Wayne Barnes in Morgan row

Andrea Piardi will take charge of England’s Six Nations clash against Ireland at Twickenham – his biggest game since the second Lions Test ended in acrimony

England host Ireland in the first match of Six Nations round three as they look to bounce back from defeat against Scotland last weekend.

Andrea Piardi, who only made his Six Nations debut in 2024 when Wales played Ireland, will oversee proceedings and ensure discipline is maintained. The 33 year old is the first Italian to referee in the Six Nations and is anticipated to have a demanding afternoon.

Here’s what you need to know about him.

Who is Andrea Piardi?

Born in 1992, Piardi started his rugby journey as a back-row forward before switching to refereeing ten years ago. He has previously taken charge of matches in the Italian Top12 and made his Pro14 refereeing bow in a fixture between Munster and the Southern Kings in February 2019.

His 2021 Six Nations debut came as an assistant referee during the Wales-Scotland encounter, and he subsequently officiated two Rugby World Cup qualifying fixtures. With 10 Test matches to his name, his experience also encompasses appearances at two U20 World Championships and acting as a touch judge at last year’s World Cup.

The 32 year old Piardi made history in 2024 by becoming the first Italian referee to officiate in the Six Nations tournament. Speaking before the fixture at the Aviva Stadium, he shared his emotions, saying: “I am very proud to be the first Italian to referee the Six Nations. It is a journey that started 10 years ago so I am really proud and really happy for myself, for my family, for my partner, for everyone that has supported me during this journey.

“It is a massive opportunity for me to show that I can be the first Italian to referee the Six Nations and I can open the door for the next generation of Italian referees. All Italian referees hoped that sooner or later, this designation would come, so it is a great joy and emotion for the entire refereeing community and not just referees but for the entire Italian Rugby Federation, including many fans who follow rugby in Italy.”

Following the Six Nations, Piardi was appointed to take charge of the 2024 URC final.

Lions controversy

The highest profile match of Piardi’s career so far also saw him embroiled in his biggest controversy after the decisive second Test of the Australia v Lions series last summer.

Former Australia centre Morgan Turinui slammed Piardi for getting his match-defining decision in the Lions’ dramatic victory over the Wallabies “completely wrong”, insisting he should be put in front of the World Rugby board to explain himself.

Hugo Keenan scored a try at the death to clinch a remarkable 29-26 victory over Australia, which also secured the Test series with a game to spare.

After Keenan had touched down, Piardi consulted his TMO as the Wallabies complained their openside flanker Carlo Tizzano had been illegally cleared out by Jac Morgan.

Upon reviewing the footage Piardi concluded there was no wrongdoing and the try was awarded but this incensed Stan Sport pundit Turinui, who launched into a long rant on live TV.

“It’s really simple. It’s a point of law where dangerous conduct in a ruck and maul, Turinui said.

“You cannot make contact with a player above the shoulder line at a ruck or maul. The referee said it was a dynamic incident with both players arriving. Every ruck, every maul or every action rugby is a dynamic incident. They got it wrong.

“Joel Judge the head of referees is out here. He needs to haul those referees in and ask them to please explain that decision.

“He did have a good game but the refereeing group when it counted got the match defining decision completely wrong. It’s a point of law and it’s in black and white.

“It’s not about bias, it’s not about colouring, there’s nothing there to get away from the fact it’s a wrong call. I think it’s law 9.20 – the first about binding and the second is about not making contact above the head.”

However, despite the criticism from down under, Piardi found support from refereeing legens Nigel Owens and Wayne Barnes, who both backed his decision.

Barnes said: “When Piardi announced the decision of his team over the stadium PA system – a great addition to international rugby, by the way – there was a deluge of noise at the MCG. And there was also a sense of relief on my sofa.

“Dan Biggar, on Sky Sports’ commentary, asked: ‘Where could he go?’ and when Ronan O’Gara was asked what he was seeing he replied quickly: ‘Very little’.

“I couldn’t have agreed more with the two ex-internationals. Rugby is a dynamic game with lots of moving parts and yes, player safety is at the heart of everything the game is currently doing, but these things happen.”

Owens added: “There are a lot of experts on social media and a lot of pundits who think they are experts at refereeing as well.

“First of all, what you need to to judge is a couple of things here. Are Jac Morgan’s actions legal? So, is he coming in low, with the arms out ready to wrap and clear out?

“If he wasn’t doing that or he was leading with a shoulder, then you would have foul play and you would have a penalty. But his actions are actually perfect in the way you’d expect a player to clean out.”