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English referees appointed for both All Blacks vs Springboks games

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Getty Images)

World Rugby have named the referees for the remaining 2021 Rugby Championship matches which will be played in Australia next month, starting with the September 5 meeting of the Wallabies and the All Blacks in Perth which will see Australian Damon Murphy make his debut in the Championship fresh from taking charge of the gold medal men’s sevens match featuring Fiji at the Olympics in Tokyo.

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While the Wallabies versus All Blacks game was originally pencilled to take place in Western Australia, it was only decided at the top of this week to also stage the other eight remaining fixtures in the tournament in Australia with the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Townsville and the Gold Coast for a second time staging double-headers across four successive weekends.

The most eagerly awaited match-ups are the two meetings featuring the All Blacks versus the Springboks, the 2019 World Cup winners who have flown out to Australia on Thursday fresh from their Test series victory over the Lions which they followed with two Championship wins over Argentina. With South Africa opting out of last year’s Australian-held Championship, the age-old rivals have not clashed since the September 2019 World Cup pool match in Japan, a game that was won by the All Blacks. 

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World Rugby have decided to appoint English referees for the renewal of this ancient rivalry with Luke Pearce on the whistle in Townsville on September 25 for the 100th All Blacks versus Springboks Test match followed by Matthew Carley taking charge of the following weekend’s rematch on the Gold Coast. 

Carley, who hasn’t previously refereed in the Championship, will referee a total of three matches. He will make his bow in the tournament on September 18 when Australia play South Africa in Brisbane and he will also be in charge when the Wallabies play Argentina the following week in Townsville. Meanwhile, Pearce will also referee the September 12 meeting of South Africa-Australia, meaning English referees have been appointed for five of the remaining nine games in the Championship.

The Championship fixtures will also see under-fire Nic Berry back on the Test match whistle after finding himself controversially on the receiving end of much criticism from SA Rugby director Rassie Erasmus following the July 24 first Test loss by the Springboks to the Lions in Cape Town. Berry will take charge of the All Blacks versus Argentina match on the Gold Coast on September 12. Meanwhile, South African Jaco Peyper has been handed two Argentina refereeing assignments, taking charge of their matches against New Zealand in Brisbane and versus Australia on the Gold Coast.  

UPDATED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Round One – August 14
New Zealand 57 Australia 22 (Auckland)
Springboks 32 Argentina 12 (Port Elizabeth)

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Round Two – August 21
Argentina 10 Springboks 29 (Port Elizabeth)
September 5: Australia v New Zealand (Perth – Damon Murphy, RA))

Round Three – September 12 (Gold Coast)
New Zealand v Argentina (Nic Berry, RA)
Springboks v Australia (Luke Pearce (RFU)

Round Four – September 18 (Brisbane)
Argentina v New Zealand (Jaco Peyper, SARU)
Australia v Springboks (Matthew Carley, RFU)

Round Five – September 25 (Townsville)
New Zealand v Springboks (Luke Pearce, RFU)
Australia v Argentina (Matthew Carley, RFU)

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Round Six – October 2 (Gold Coast)
Springboks v New Zealand (Matthew Carley, RFU)
Argentina v Australia (Jaco Peyper, SARU)

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A
Adrian 35 minutes ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

6 Go to comments
T
Trevor 3 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
B
Bull Shark 7 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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