New Zealand referee Ben O’Keeffe will take charge of South Africa’s opening clash of 2023 – the Springboks’ sold-out Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Pretoria.
O’Keeffe will blow the blockbuster match at Loftus Versfeld on 8 July, while Mathieu Raynal from France is appointed to call the mouthwatering duel between the Boks and the All Blacks in Auckland on 15 July.
Irishman Andrew Brace will take charge of his first of two Bok Tests this year, in the final Test in the truncated competition against Argentina in Johannesburg on 29 July.
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Nika Amashukeli from Georgia will preside over the first of the Boks’ three Rugby World Cup warm-ups, against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 5 August, with Brace officiating against Wales in Cardiff on 19 August, and Englishman Matthew Carley taking the whistle for the highly-anticipated match against the All Blacks at Twickenham on 25 August.
South Africans Jaco Peyper and Marius Jonker were also handed a number of appointments for the international season. Peyper will officiate Australia and Argentina in Sydney (15 July), where Jonker will be on TMO duty, and two World Cup warm-ups between Georgia and the US (19 August), and England vs Fiji (26 August).
Jonker will also serve as the TMO in the Bledisloe Cup Test in Dunedin on 5 August.
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