Hollie to make more history at Boks' Rugby Champs opener

NEWS: The Springboks will be officiated by six different referees in their Rugby Championship matches in the southern hemisphere spectacle over the next two months.

Luke Pearce of England is set to take charge of the Springboks’ opening match of the 2024 campaign against Australia at Lang Park in Brisbane on Saturday, August 10.

World Rugby announced the match officials for the tournament – which runs from August 10 to September 28 – on Friday, with the panel featuring 12 referees from seven nations.

Scotland’s Hollie Davidson will make history as the first female match official to appear in the competition since its inception having been handed the assistant referee duties for the Boks’ first two matches against the Wallabies in Brisbane and Perth.

Pearce will be assisted by Paul Williams (New Zealand) and Davidson – who was the first female referee to take charge of a Springbok Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein two weeks ago – in the team’s opening match against the Wallabies.

Williams will hold the whistle in the second encounter between the sides in Perth a week later, where Pearce and Davidson will be on assistant referee duty.

Andrew Brace (Ireland) and Matt Carley (England) will take charge of the Springboks’ back-to-back home Test matches against New Zealand in Johannesburg (August 31) and Cape Town (September 7).

England’s Christophe Ridley, who makes his debut in the competition this season, will officiate the match between the Boks and Argentina in Santiago (September 21), 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 September 28).

Back in Brisbane, meanwhile, the Springboks jumped straight into action on Friday with gym and field training session to prepare for their opening clash against the Wallabies and will build on this start on Saturday before switching into full match mode on Monday.

The full list of appointments

Saturday, August 10

Australia v South Africa
(Lang Park Stadium, Brisbane)

Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand) and Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

New Zealand v Argentina
(Wellington Regional Stadium Trust, Wellington)

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia) and Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)

Saturday, August 17

New Zealand v Argentina
(Eden Park, Auckland)

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia) and Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Australia v South Africa
(Perth Stadium, Perth)

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England) and Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

Saturday, August 31

South Africa v New Zealand
(Ellis Park, Johannesburg)

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England) and Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)

Argentina v Australia
(Estadio Jorge Hirschi, Buenos Aires)

Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) and Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Saturday, September 7

South Africa v New Zealand
(Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town)

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland) and Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

Argentina v Australia
(Estadio Brigadier Estanislao Lopez, Santa Fé)

Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) and  James Doleman (New Zealand)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Saturday, September 21

Australia v New Zealand
(Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney)

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) and Damian Schneider (Urugaye)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Argentina v South Africa
(Estadio Unico Madre de Cludades, Santiago del Estero)

Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
Assistant referees: Matt Carley (England) and Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

Saturday, September 28

New Zealand v Australia
(Wellington Regional Stadium Trust, Wellington)

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Goergia)
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson (England) and Damian Schneider (Urugauy)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

South Africa v Argentina
(Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: James Doleman (New Zealand) and Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)