Cape Town – World Rugby has announced the match official appointments for the 63 confirmed internationals on the road to Rugby World Cup 2019, with Paul Williams (New Zealand), Nic Berry (Australia) and Romain Poite (France) in charge of the Springboks’ Rugby Championship Tests in July and August. 

Williams will be the man in charge when the Springboks kick off their Rugby Championship campaign against the Wallabies on July 20 in Johannesburg. 

Berry will handle the much-anticipated rematch between the Springboks and All Blacks one week later, on July 27 in Wellington – the scene of South Africa’s epic win over the Kiwis last year – and Poite will be the man in the middle when the Boks face Argentina in Salta on August 10.

The Springboks will play five Tests before the start of the World Cup in Japan – three in the shortened Rugby Championship, one friendly against Argentina and a World Cup warm-up match against Japan.

All 23 of the match officials selected for Japan 2019 will be in action over a busy and important period of preparation for World Cup teams and the match officials. 

Williams, Berry, Poite, Angus Gardner (Australia), Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) and Jérôme Garcès (France) will be taking charge of the Rugby Championship matches. 

The referees in the Boks’ remaining matches are Englishman Luke Pearce (friendly against Argentina on August 17 in Pretoria), while Berry is also scheduled to referee the Springboks’ World Cup warm-up encounter with Japan, which takes place on Friday, September 6 in Kumagaya. 

South African match officials Jaco Peyper and Marius Jonker will be involved in a number of internationals prior to the World Cup.

They pair are involved in the Rugby Championship clash between the Wallabies and All Blacks on August 10 in Perth, where Peyper will be an assistant referee and Jonker the television match official (TMO). 

The following week will see Peyper, South Africa’s most experience referee, take charge of the Bledisloe Cup Test between the All Blacks and Wallabies at Eden Park in Auckland, with Jonker as TMO.

Peyper will also carry the whistle in the big World Cup warm-up on August 24 at Twickenham between Six Nations rivals England and Ireland.