Siya Kolisi and Luke Pearce. (Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
- Luke
Pearce will officiate the Springboks opening Test of the Rugby
Championship against Australia. - The
match takes place in Brisbane next Saturday. - The
tournament will also feature a female official for the first time, as
Scotland’s Holly Davidson was named as an assistant referee for the clash. - For
more Springbok news, visit our dedicated section.
Six different referees will take charge of Springbok
matches during this year’s Rugby Championship, with Luke Pearce of England set
to take charge of their opening clash against Australia at the Suncorp Stadium
in Brisbane next Saturday.
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Pearce will be assisted by Paul Williams (New Zealand)
and Holly Davids, the first female official to take part in the tournament.
Davidson is no stranger to the Springboks as she took
charge of their most recent Test match against Portugal in Bloemfontein last
month.
Williams will officiate the second Test between the sides
at the Optus Stadium in Perth on 17 August, with Pearce and Davidson as
assistant referees.
For the home clashes against the All Blacks in
Johannesburg (31 August) and Cape Town (7 September), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
and Matt Carley (England) will be in charge.
England’s Christophe Ridley, who makes his debut in the
competition this season, will officiate the match between the Boks and
Argentina in Santiago (21 September), while Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) will be
the man in the middle in the team’s closing match of the tournament against Los
Pumas at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit (on 28 September).
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