Career
Gardner took up refereeing in 1999 at the age of fifteen, and became a full-time referee in 2011. He was appointed to his first test match in November 2011, which was an Oceania Cup match between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. Gardner was appointed to the Institutional Review Board Junior World Championship in 2012 and 2014, and was in charge of the semi-final between England and Ireland in 2014.
He was named as one of 16 referees on the SANZAR panel for the 2014 season, and refereed his first match in Super Rugby between the Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels in March that year.
