South African referee Jaco Peyper has been given the whistle for the World Cup opener between the All Blacks and France, as World Rugby revealed the officials in charge of the Springboks’ pool matches.
World Rugby has announced the match official appointments for the pool stages of the World Cup, with just over two weeks to go until the opening fixture.
Peyper will referee the opening match between the hosts and New Zealand at the Stade de France on 8 September. He is no stranger to opening matches, having refereed the England versus Fiji opener in 2015 at Twickenham.
On the same weekend, the Pool B match between the Springboks and Scotland on 10 September will be handled by Australian Angus Gardner.
France’s Mathieu Raynal will take charge of South Africa’s second pool game against Romania on 17 September.
The decisive clash between the Springboks and current world number one Ireland will be handled by New Zealand’s Ben O’Keeffe
The Springboks close their pool campaign off against Tonga, a match that will see England’s Luke Pearce take the whistle.
Match official appointments for South Africa’s World Cup pool games:
South Africa v Scotland
Stade de Marseille, Marseille
Sunday, 10 September
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant Referee 2: Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
South Africa v Romania
Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
Sunday, 17 September
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
South Africa v Ireland
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Saturday, 23 September
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
Assistant Referee 2: James Doleman (NZR)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZR)
South Africa v Tonga
Stade de Marseille, Marseille
Sunday, 1 October
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Christophe Ridley (RFU)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
Photo: Laszlo Geczo/INPHO/Shutterstock/BackpagePix