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World Rugby confirms July referee list, including Springboks-Ireland
World Rugby have named its match officials for the upcoming 38-game June/July international window and the 11-game revamped Pacific Nations Cup – including the eagerly awaited two-match South Africa versus Ireland series.
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Thirty referees in total have been selected to take charge of the 49 men’s internationals and the list of appointments will see Australia’s Angus Gardner take charge of the opening Springboks-Ireland clash in Pretoria on July 6, with England’s Karl Dickson in the middle for the following weekend’s rematch in Durban.
Georgia’s Nika Amashukeli has been tasked with getting the All Blacks-England series underway in Dunedin on July 6, with Australia’s Nic Berry in charge for game two in Auckland seven days later.
Amashukeli won’t be staying on in New Zealand for that rematch as he has been appointed for the second Wallabies versus Wales Test on July 13 in Melbourne, taking over from Pierre Brousset of France who has been pencilled in for the series opener in Sydney.
Meanwhile, Irish duo Chris Busby and Andrew Brace are the referees for the two-game Argentina versus France series.
A statement read: “The Emirates World Rugby Match Officials have been confirmed for the men’s June-July international window, the revamped Pacific Nations Cup and the World Rugby U20 Championship and U20 Trophy competitions.
“Thirty referees have been selected to take charge of 49 men’s internationals across the July window and Pacific Nations Cup, with a further 16 named on the panels for the U20 Championship and U20 Trophy.
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“Twenty-four nations – from Argentina to Zimbabwe – feature across the appointments as World Rugby advances its strategic pathway to identify, enable and develop high-performance talent in preparation for future Rugby World Cups.
“Luc Ramos (France) will take charge of the opening match of the June-July window, between Japan and England in Tokyo on 22 June, with Nic Berry (Australia) to referee the last match, the Pacific Nations Cup final in Osaka on 21 September.
“Berry and Hollie Davidson (Scotland) each have three Tests in total with the latter taking charge of Canada vs Romania on July 12, South Africa vs Portugal on July 20 and Japan vs USA in the Pacific Nations Cup on September 7.
“Davidson is one of three women appointed to Test matches with Kat Roche (USA) and Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe) selected as assistant referees. Roche will be assistant referee for Canada vs Romania (July 12) and Canada vs Japan on August 25, with Pazani selected for Namibia vs Portugal on July 13.
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“Meanwhile, Mathieu Raynal (France) will referee his 50th and final Test, having already announced his retirement. Raynal will be in the middle for Chile vs Scotland in Santiago on July 20 to become the fourth Frenchman and 13th official in total to referee 50 Tests.
“Kahlil Harrison (USA) is named as assistant referee for Canada vs Scotland on July 6 having recently been one of nine at the match officials academy in Stellenbosch, a key development platform for the next generation of aspiring international match officials.”
- Click here for the July/July Test match appointments
- Click here for the Pacific Nations Cup appointments
- Click here for the Junior World Championship refereeing panel
- And click here for the U20s Trophy panel
Comments on RugbyPass
Wow, never thought I would read that
1 Go to commentsExcellent match. Great to see Keenan and Ryan back for Leinster. Super result for Ulster. Season is turning around.
1 Go to comments“We need eight or nine new players, who are hard-wearing and durable and experienced Premiership performers”. So why are they scouting a retired fullback who himself admits that his “body is broken”?
1 Go to commentsBrumbies hand, knocked a Crusaders hand. Therefore, knock on in goal. Crusaders, goal line drop out should’ve been awarded. most likely after that 24 each at full time, so extra time would’ve been the right an entertaining outcome. Act Jim
1 Go to commentsSpeell cehck
1 Go to commentsColeman is gaawwwwnnn.
1 Go to commentsnext SA head coach?
3 Go to commentsGreat try by van Poortvliet.
1 Go to commentsThey have been cruelled by injuries but almost nobody (Sevu Reece and Fletcher Newell big exceptions) has played above himself which regularly happened before. Surely Scott Robertson had maintained the recruitment programme and it looks like a reasonable squad. Last in this competition will stall a lot of careers. Penny seems likeable. But it’s not enough even though this was better. We haven’t been good enough and it’s not helped by the “it’s been 15 years since… “etc “after nearly every match. Seems somehow a soft gifting of something once valuable. Kieran Read giving comments last week almost choked describing the easy surrender of possession by the forwards. I’d love to think that the senior players some of whom are back can show enough pride in the jersey to test the Blues next week.
3 Go to commentsWho will Joe select for the back three with so many in form candidates? Just hope he doesn’t get shafted like Dave Rennie and to a lesser extent Deans.
6 Go to commentsAlways reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
3 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
6 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
5 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
5 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to comments