Springbok Women enlist top referee’s help ahead for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry

The Springbok Women have enlisted the help of the world’s leading female referee ahead of their Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry clash with the Black Ferns.

On Saturday, the Springbok Women and Black Ferns will play each other for just the third time and the first time on South African soil in the first part of a doubleheader at Soweto’s FNB Stadium.

In July, Aimee Barrett-Theron stepped down from officiating after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, but this week was on the training field with South Africa’s women.

The 39-year-old former Springbok international, who played Test rugby and rugby sevens for her country, was seen on the training paddock officiating the scrum.

In the men’s Test series, which is level at 1-1 after last weekend’s clash in Cape Town, has been dogged with controversy surrounding the scrum.

Former Test referee Jaco Peyper is already a part of Rassie Erasmus’ coaching staff, with the women’s camp now adopting a similar approach by drafting Barrett-Theron to their set-up.

“Having Aimee here is a gamechanger,” Johannes-Haupt said. “With World Rugby, there are a few things we wanted to tweak with regards to the law. We wanted to get better at the laws.

“So having Aimee calling the scrum resets is massive, so the girls know exactly what to expect and the pictures we need to show the referees.”

It is the strength of their pack that South Africa are looking to harness in the years to come.

Ahead of this year’s campaign the team admitted their ambition was to climb higher up the World Rugby rankings.

So far in 2026 the Bok Women have played four Tests. This included a drawn series against the USA Women’s Eagles and a whitewash of the Fijiana XV in Fiji. In each victory, the forward pack

“We have two proper packs, so that is definitely one of our strengths, and carry on with that,” Johannes-Haupt said.

“Our set-piece in general is working well together, so it’s definitely something we want to put forward to the New Zealanders.”

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