A teacher by trade AJ started refereeing while still a player, officiating high school matches. He was persuaded to prioritise refereeing over playing (thanks to some injury issues) and joined the Griffons Referees' Society in 2010. He quickly progressed to the South African Rugby Referees' Association's National Panel. He made his first class debut in 2015 by taking charge of the Blue Bulls versus Golden Lions. He took charge of his first match in the Premier Division of the Currie Cup later that year when he officiated the Free State Cheetahs versus Griquas match in Bloemfontein. He was the one new appointment to the Super Rugby referee team in 2019 and has refereed 8 matches. He will be looking to add to his experience in the tournament this year and gets an early chance to impress with several others on Six Nations duty.