The South African referee panels for 2016 have been announced, following the review of matches in 2015.

Panels are selected at the end of the year, after a long process in which referees' performance in every game have been monitored by an assessor and a coach (assigned to every official), with the views of teams involved in every match an official took charge off factored in. Referees are also required to state their own views on their performance.

There are three primary panels, with all listed officials contracted to Saru, but World Rugby and Sanzar will compose their own panels for their competitions.

Elite panel – Stuart Berry, Rodney Boneparte, Quinton Immelman, Cwengile Jadezweni, Craig Joubert, Lesego Legoete, Jaco Peyper, Rasta Rasivhenge, Marius Joubert, Jaco van Heerden.

National panel – Ben Crouse, Stephan Geldenhuys, AJ Jacobs, Jason Jaftha, Jaco Kotzé, Pieter Maritz, Mpho Matsaung, Ruhan Meiring, Paul Mente, Vusi Msibi, Sindile Ngcese, Francois Pretorius, Jaco Pretorius, Oregopotse Rametsi, Egon Seconds, Archie Sehlako, Ricus van der Hoven, Lourens van der Merwe.

Sevens panel – Aimee Barrett, Ben Crouse, Craig Joubert, Jaco Kotzé, Rasta Rasivhenge, Egon Seconds, Marius van der Westhuizen.

Photo: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images