Springboks set for another ground-breaking moment

NEWS: History will be made in South Africa in more than one way when the Springboks meet Portugal for the first time in a Test in Bloemfontein in July.

The match will be refereed by Hollie Davidson, the first woman to take charge of a Test involving the Springboks.

The appointment of Scotland’s Davidson was announced by World Rugby on Tuesday, along with the match officials for all the June and July internationals.

Chris Busby from Ireland will be the man in the middle when the Boks kick off their 2024 season against Wales at Twickenham in London on June 22, while Australia’s Angus Gardner and Karl Dickson from England have been appointed to referee the Boks’ two Tests against Ireland in Pretoria and Durban respectively.

South Africa’s AJ Jacobs has been appointed to referee the Test between Namibia and Portugal in Windhoek, where Griffin Colby is one of the assistant referees, a week before the Boks take on the Portuguese in Bloemfontein.

Three South African television match officials will also be in action during the mid-year Tests. They are Marius van der Westhuizen, Quinton Immelman and Marius Jonker.

Meanwhile, Mathieu Raynal (France) will referee his 50th and final test, having already announced his retirement. Raynal will be in the middle for Chile v 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 v Scotland on July 6 having recently been one of nine at the Match Officials Academy in Stellenbosch, South Africa, a key development platform for the next generation of aspiring international match officials.

Aimee Barrett-Theron, Morne Ferreira and Immelman are on the panel for the World Rugby U20 Championship, which takes place in Cape Town in June and July.

*For a full list of the official appointments for the June/July Test, Click here!