Who will be the referee for Springboks-Wallabies on Saturday?

The Springboks will face Australia at Loftus Versfeld in their opening game of the shortened Rugby Championship this Saturday, with kick off at 5.05pm.

As a reminder when it comes to the match official appointments, Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) will officiate the Springboks’ clash this weekend, and he will be assisted by another New Zealander, Paul Williams, as well as Andrea Piardi from Italy.

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Another Kiwi, Brendon Pickerill, will be on TMO duty.

It shouldn’t be quickly forgotten that O’Keeffe refereed the second Test between the Springboks and British & Irish Lions in 2021, when he was largely praised for the manner in which he handled the game after a highly controversial opening encounter.

Just recently, though, O’Keeffe has spoken out about the abuse he received after the Super Rugby final at the end of June. In that game, many Chiefs fans felt O’Keeffe favoured the Crusaders with a host of decisions that went the way of the visitors, and the official was also notably booed at the post-match presentation of medals.

He subsequently shared a social media post highlighting all the online abuse he received, while expressing the importance of rugby supporters changing their behaviour.

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YOU CAN SEE THE POST FROM REFEREE O’KEEFFE BELOW:

Abuse in any form is never OK.

Unfortunately, as a union referee at the highest level, I have had to accept and grow accustomed to the post-match vitriol that fans normalise post game.

It’s a sad reality that it doesn’t affect me anymore, but that doesn’t mean it’s ok.

I think back to the Europa League Final referee walking through the airport and his family getting chairs thrown at them – I hope my family is never subjected to this but the direction some fans are going now in rugby, I know we are closer than we have ever been. This is one of many recent examples when someone has crossed the line towards a match official in Rugby.

Officials are part of the game, and we need support from players and coaches to have the tough conversations privately but to publicly back and support their officials – not criticise. This will change the way the fans treat us.

Abuse is out there and for anyone going through it right now in any form please understand there is support there, people do love you, there is help available and if all else fails, send me a message and I would be happy to talk with you.

Let’s celebrate the season, let’s celebrate what was a great final from the players.

There were some excellent decisions, and some poor ones that I accept I made and need to improve on – continual growth is something that excites me to be better for the game.

We need Rugby to be the best game in the world, on and off the field – let’s do it together.

VIEW THE RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP APPOINTMENTS >>
VIEW THE REMAINING JULY-AUGUST APPOINTMENTS >>

MATCH OFFICIALS FOR THE SPRINGBOKS’ RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2023

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