Scotland v Italy Six Nations 2023 referee: Meet Angus Gardner the man in charge at Murrayfield Stadium today

This weekend sees Scotland and Italy go head to head and while it will be the players receiving the most attention, scrutiny will also fall on the man in the middle. Whether decisions go your team’s way or not, there’s a good chance the referee will become a talking point of Saturday’s game.

In a change to 2022, this year each match will have a different referee overseeing the action with a total of eight nations represented in the selected match officials. Talking about the selection process ahead of the tournament, World Rugby Selection Committee Chairman Graham Mourie said: “As we enter a men’s Rugby World Cup year, our focus is very much on performance and culture as we begin to consider selections for France 2023.

“The more time we have with the group, the better it is for everyone, and we constantly challenge ourselves to be better, to achieve alignment and consistency and strengthen understanding with the teams. As with the November tests and The Rugby Championship, the Guinness Six Nations represents another opportunity for a talented group of match officials with a superb work ethic to help facilitate more excellent tests in what is probably the most competitive period in men’s rankings history.”

While Scotland are no longer in the running to pick up a title at this year's Six Nations, if they manage to secure a bonus point today they will guarantee themselves third place in the table. This would be only the second time they would have achieved this in a decade.

Here’s who will be keeping the two nations in line, as well as full team line ups and how to watch the action live on TV.

Scotland v Italy referee: Angus Gardner

Australian referee, Angus Gardner, is the man in charge of the Scotland v Italy clash today. The 38-year old took up refereeing in 1999 at the age of fifteen, and became a full-time referee in 2015.

The same year, Gardener was selected as an assistant referee at the Rugby World Cup and was also selected to referee at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He was named "World Rugby Referee of the Year" at the 2018 World Rugby Awards.

Below is the full list of match referees as well as the TMO.

Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)

Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Carley (RFU)

Assistant Referee 2: Craig Evans (WRU)

TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)

Scotland v Italy Six Nations 2023 confirmed line-ups

Scotland team to face Italy:

Smith; Steyn, H Jones, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe; Kinghorn, White; Schoeman, Turner, Z Fagerson, Skinner, J Gray, Ritchie (c), Watson, Dempsey

Replacements: Ashman, Sutherland, Nel, Cummings, M Fagerson, Price, Healy, Redpath

Italy team to face Scotland

Allan; Bruno, Brex, Menoncello, Gesi; Garbisi, Fusco; Fischetti, Nicotera, Riccioni, Iachizzi, Ruzza, Negri, Lamaro (c), L Cannone

Replacements: Manfredi, Zani, Ceccarelli, N Cannone, Pettinelli, Zuliani, Garbisi, Morisi

Six Nations 2023 Scotland v Italy - how to watch

Kick off for the game being held on Scotland’s home turf, Murrayfield Stadium, is at 12.30pm on Sunday, March 18. You can watch the match live on BBC One and BBC iplayer with build up to the clash beginning at 12 noon.

If you can’t get yourself in front of a screen for the game, you can listen to live commentary via BBC Radio 5 Live.