It’s one of the few rugby weekends in the global year without any domestic league or cup rugby, but don’t be too down-heartened. We have a huge list of international rugby and their respective match officials teams for you to feast your eyes on!
The Pacific Nations Cup kicks off in Suva, Fiji with a round robin tournament of Australia A, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga all involved. South Africa’s Jaco Peyper and New Zealand’s Ben O’Keeffe kick things off there. In the “big” tour matches, there’s some newer names on the major test stage as Karl Dickson (Eng) takes charge of the first test between the All Blacks and Ireland; James Doleman (NZ) is in Perth to referee Australia v England; and Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) oversees the Springboks as they host Wales. Hollie Davidson (Sco) moves on from her game in Portugal last week to referee Canada v Belgium.
In a pre-cursor to RWC23 , France are hosting this year’s Africa Cup, the winner of which will take the “Africa 1” slot at the World Cup. The tournament runner up will head to the final qualifying tournament later in the year.
We also have important 7s action in Rugby Europe as the final slots at the 7s World Cup will be decided! There’s a strong referee team gathered in Poland for the weekend, so do keep your eyes on those too.
Enjoy the rugby!
Keith
Pacific Nations Cup – round 1 (all in Suva)
Australia A v Samoa
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
ARs: Graham Cooper (RA) & Tevita Rokovereni (FRU)
Fiji v Tonga
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
ARs: Mike Fraser (NZR) & Jono Bredin (NZR)
Rugby Africa Cup 2022 (Men’s) – In France
Namibia v Burkina Faso
Referee: Sylvain Mane (SEN)
ARs: Precious Pazani (ZIM) & Talent Gandiwa (ZIM)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (FFR)
Zimbabwe v Ivory Coast
Referee: Vivien Praderie (FFR)
ARs: Aymen Jriji (TUN) & Victor Ojuku (KEN)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (FFR)
Senegal v Algeria
Referee: Ludovic Cayre (FFR)
ARs: Nicardo Pienaar (NAM) & Victor Ojuku (KEN)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (FFR)
Uganda v Kenya
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)
ARs: Sylvain Mane (SEN) & Aymen Jriji (TUN)
TMO: Philippe Bonhoure (FFR)
Summer internationals
USA v French Barbarians
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
ARs: Francisco Gonzalez (URU) & Peter Pender (RC)
TMO: Andrew Hosie (RC)
Romania v Italy
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
ARs: Christophe Ridley (RFU) & Ian Tempest (RFU)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
Australia v England
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
ARs: Andrew Brace (IRFU) & Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZR)
New Zealand v Ireland
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
ARs: Wayne Barnes (RFU) & Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
South Africa v Wales
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
ARs: Angus Gardner (RA) & Andrew Piardi (FIR)
TMO: Joy Neville (IRFU)
Argentina v Scotland
Referee: Nic Berry (RA)
ARs: Mathieu Raynal (FFR) & Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
Canada v Belgium
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
ARs: Kat Roche (USAR) & Kahlil Harrison (USAR)
TMO: Austin Reed (USAR)
Japan v France
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
ARs: Shuhei Kubo (JRU) & Chris Busby (IRFU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Georgia v Argentina XV
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
ARs: Sam Grove-White (SRU) & Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO: Matteo Lipperini (FIR)
Rugby Europe Championship 7s – Women (Krakow)
Referees: Katie Ritchie (Eng), Maria Giovana Pacifico (Ita), Maria Latos (Ger), Mélissa Leboeuf (Fra), Ano Kuwai (Jpn) & Moe Chaudry (Can)
Rugby Europe Championship 7s – Men (Krakow)
Referees: Ben Breakspear (Wal), Inigo Atorrasagasti (Spn), George Selwood (Eng), Paulo Duarte (Por), Kevin Sulejmani (Bel) & Sulkhan Chikladze (GEO)
2022 Oceania U20 Match
Fiji U20 v NZ U20 (in Queensland)
Referee: Angus Mabey (NZ)
ARs: Will Pugsley & Rory Crombie
TMO: Damon Murphy (Aus)
Australia U20 v Argentina U20 (in Quensland)
Referee: David Vosalevu (FJI)
ARs: Jordan Ryan & Sam Jones
TMO: Damon Murphy (Aus)
Tuesday 5th
Argentina U20 v NZ U20
Referee: David Vosalevu (FJI)
ARs: Will Pugsley & Jordan Ryan
TMO: Damon Murphy (Aus)
Australia U20 v Fiji U20
Referee: Angus Mabey (NZ)
ARs: Jordan Ryan & Jess Ling
TMO: Damon Murphy (Aus)