Former IRFU referee director Owen Doyle has pushed back hard against Michael Hooper and Steve Hansen's suggestion that Andrea Piardi shouldn't officiate Australia again after the Perth Test. Writing in the Irish Times, Doyle argues the pair are shooting the messenger — only one of Piardi's four yellow cards was an error, and even that was compounded by an over-zealous assistant rather than being solely Piardi's call. The Paisami card, meanwhile, was validated by a four-week disciplinary ban, which Doyle notes will simply give the Southern Hemisphere pundits more officials to target. Hooper framed his comments as concern for Piardi's welfare rather than an attack on his competence — a reading Hansen endorsed — but Doyle isn't buying the charitable interpretation and calls it out plainly. He also takes a broader swing at the push from Australian and New Zealand media for a rugby league-style report system, arguing it would undermine the yellow card's deterrent function and increase dangerous upright tackling. This follows Doyle's earlier column describing Southern Hemisphere officiating trends as a 'virus' that must be contained — making this part of a sustained argument about a deepening north-south split in how the game is refereed.