Undergoing a 'check ride' prior to the hire of an aeroplane means that the person conducting the check ride is required to be there in order to assess that your performance is satisfactory for whatever requirements the organisation offering the ac for hire has deemed appropriate. Otherwise there would be no need for a 'check ride' in the first place.
The key words are 'for whatever requirements the organisation .... has deemed appropriate.'
Normally these requirements are insurance driven, or simply the club rules, or just plain commonsense - nothing to do with ANO or other legal, licencing requirements. Our group requires that prospective new members are accompanied by an existing member who's current - either of them could log P1, neither of them could log P1s (because it's not an exam and neither is an examiner) or Pu/t (because neither is an instructor).
I don't have a huge problem with it. P1s is logged wrongly all over the place and I don't know any pilot who has had any P1s time queried by the CAA - they are after all 'personal logbooks'.
I like my personal logbook to be done properly, so I don't log P1s unless I've successfully flown with an examiner for the purpose of granting or renewing a rating or licence.
Steve R