Two Englishmen on referee panel for Greatest Rivalry Series

The four referees for the Greatest Rivalry Series between South Africa and New Zealand have been announced by World Rugby, with Matt Carley taking charge of the first Test at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on 22 August.

Groundbreaking Georgian official Nika Amashukeli has been handed the second Test at the DHL Stadium Cape Town a week later, while Australian official Angus Gardner will run the rule over the third Test, which takes place at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 5 September.

The Series will then head to the United States, where the fourth Test in Baltimore will be refereed by Carley’s fellow Englishman, Karl Dickson.

Carley and Dickson ran touch in the final of Rugby World Cup 2023, a 12-11 win for the Springboks over New Zealand.

The four tour matches against South African franchises will be shared between the quartet, who have all run the rule over previous Boks vs All Blacks clashes.

All three of the previous fixtures in which Carley was the whistleblower ended in wins for the Boks, including the then record 35-7 victory in London on the eve of RWC 2023.

And South Africans will remember only too well the record 43-10 win for South Africa in Wellington last year, which was refereed by Amashukeli.

However, the head-to-head is 2-1 in New Zealand’s favour when Gardner has been the man in the middle, while Dickson’s only previous experience of the fixture as a referee was the 24-17 win for the All Blacks at Eden Park in last year’s Rugby Championship.

The four Tests in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series are part of a 22-match international schedule between August and October, which will involve 16 officials from nine unions.

Eoghan Cross (Ireland) will referee the first test of the window between Japan and Australia in Osaka on 8 August with Luke Pearce (England) taking charge of the last, the second Bledisloe Cup encounter between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney on 17 October.