South Africa rugby has appointed Aimee Barrett-Theron to becomes the first female referee to officiate the SA Rugby U20 Championship final in Welkom. She will take charge of the Griffons v Limpopo Blue Bulls fixture. That will be followed by Jaco van Heerden overseeing the Currie Cup First Division final between the Griffons and the Leopards. The Currie Cup final participants will be decided this weekend after Rasta Rasivhenge referees the Western Province v Golden Lions match and the Sharks v Bulls will be watched by Quinton Immelman.
Barrett-Theron will be heading to London in a few weeks to referee the England v Canada Women’s fixture on 21 Nov 2017. The other referees for the female autumn internationals can be found here.
Elsewhere this weekend, Wayne Barnes heads back down south to referee the (official) Bledisloe Cup match. He’ll have to switch back to the southern hemisphere laws, remembering that some of the new northern hemisphere trials don’t count in this match. He’s experienced enough to cope, we’re sure.
In Europe, it’s week two of the new season’s Champions and Challenge Cups. Mathieu Raynal may have his hands full as Wasps take on Harlequins a few weeks after this feisty encounter in the Aviva Premiership between the two sides.
Bledisloe Cup
Australia v New Zealand
Referee: Wayne Barnes (Eng)
ARs: Marius van der Westhuizen (SA) & Egon Seconds (SA)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)
European Champions Cup, Round 2
Scarlets v Bath
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
ARs: Pierre Brousset (France) & Stéphane Boyer (France)
TMO: Éric Gauzins (France)
Glasgow Warriors v Leinster
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
ARs: Ludovic Cayre (France) & Jonathan Dufort (France)
TMO: Philip Bonhoure (France)
Benetton v RC Toulon
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
ARs: Greg Macdonald (England) & Roy Maybank (England)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)
Clermont v Northampton Saints
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
ARs: Gwyn Morris (Wales) & Wayne Davies (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Munster v Racing 92
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
ARs: Luke Pearce (England) & Simon McConnell (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
Leicester v Castres
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
ARs: Sean Gallagher (Ireland) & Mark Patton (Ireland)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (Ireland)
Saracens v Ospreys
Referee: Marius Mitrea (Italy))
ARs: Manuel Bottino (Italy) & Matteo Liperini (Italy)
TMO: Stefano Pennè (Italy)
Montpellier v Exeter Chiefs
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
ARs: Andrew Brace (Ireland) & Joy Neville (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
La Rochelle v Ulster
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
ARs: Simon Rees (Wales) & Jon Hardy (Wales)
TMO: Sean Brickell (Wales)
Wasps v Harlequins
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
ARs: Maxime Chalon (France) & Tual Trainini (France)
TMO: Éric Briquet Campin (France)
European Challenge Cup, Round 2
Gloucester v Agen
Referee: Dan Jones (Wales)
ARs: Gareth John (Wales) Kelvin Shorte (Wales)
TMO: Jon Mason (Wales)
Brive v Oyonnax
Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
ARs: Stuart Gaffikin (Ireland) & Dermot Blake (Ireland)
Lyon v Sale Sharks
Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
ARs: Lloyd Linton (Scotland) & David Sutherland (Scotland)
Toulouse v Cardiff Blues
Referee: Tom Foley (England)
ARs: Christophe Ridley (England) & Dean Richards (England)
TMO: David Sainsbury (England)
Zebre v Pau
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)
ARs: Anthony Woodthorpe (England) & Paul Burton (England)
Connacht v Worcester Warriors
Referee: Ian Davies (Wales)
ARs: Robert Price (Wales) & Andy Davies (Wales)
Bordeaux-Bègles v Newcastle Falcons
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
ARs: Kieran Barry (Ireland) & Eddie Hogan-O’Connell (Ireland)
Stade Français v London Irish
Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (Romania)
ARs: Ionut Bodea (Romania) & Radu Petrescu (Romania)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
Enisei-STM v Dragons
Referee: Ian Tempest (England)
ARs: Hamish Smales (England) & Phil Watters (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
Krasny Yar v Edinburgh
Referee: Thomas Charabas (France)
ARs: Sébastien Minery (France) & Arnaud Blondel (France)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
Currie Cup Semifinals
Western Province v Golden Lions
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge
ARs: AJ Jacobs & Archie Sehlako
TMO: Shaun Veldsman
Sharks v Blue Bulls
Referee: Quinton Immelman
ARs: Stuart Berry & Cwengile Jadezweni
TMO: Christie du Preez
Currie Cup First Class Final
Griffons v Leopards
Referee: Jaco van Heerden
ARs: Paul Mente & Mpho Matsaung
TMO: Johan Greeff
South Africa Under-20 Final
Griffons vs Limpopo
Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron
ARs: Paul Mente & Mpho Matsaung
TMO: Johan Greeff
