Blundering Bledisloe Cup rugby ref owns up to mistake before taking charge of All Blacks-Wallabies test

He could hardly do anything else, when the television audience have seen the blunder.

But Australian referee Angus Gardner has owned up to the mistake which cost the Wallabies dearly in the first Bledisloe Cup test in Wellington.

Gardner, who will control Sunday's second encounter at Eden Park, was the linesman who missed All Black centre Rieko Ioane nudging the touchline in the lead-up to Jordie Barrett's try.

"It was just a genuine miss - something it happens at that speed. Obviously I put my hand up for it," Gardner told Gold AM's Country Sport Breakfast.

Replays clearly showed Ioane was out but the try stood as the All Blacks and Wallabies played out a drawn match.

Gardner was downplaying any pressure.

"We're there to referee the game whether it's the All Blacks or the Wallabies or Wellington or Otago or Chiefs versus Crusaders... our job's just the game, it shouldn't matter who the two teams are," he said.

Kiwis Paul Williams – the referee in Wellington – and Ben O'Keeffe will be Gardner's assistants on Sunday.