Romain Poite, Nic Berry and Paul Williams will referee the Springbok matches in the shortened Rugby Championship this year.

The Springboks will play five Tests before the start of the World Cup in Japan – three in the Rugby Championship, one friendly against Argentina and a warm-up game against Japan.

Williams, Berry, Poite, Angus Gardner (Australia), Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand) and Jérôme Garcès (France) will be taking charge of the Rugby Championship matches.

Williams will be the man in charge when the Springboks kick off their Rugby Championship campaign against the Wallabies on 20 July in Johannesburg.

Berry will handle the much-anticipated rematch between the Springboks and All Blacks one week later, on 27 July in Wellington – the scene of South Africa’s epic win over the Kiwis last year – and Poite is the man in the middle when the Boks face Argentina in Salta on 10 August.

The referees in the Boks’ remaining matches are Englishman Luke Pearce (friendly against Argentina on 17 August in Pretoria), while Berry is also scheduled to referee the Springboks’ warm-up encounter with Japan, which takes place on Friday 6 September in Kumagaya.

Referee appointments:

Springboks vs Australia (Johannesburg, 20 July)
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistants: Matthew Carley (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

All Blacks vs Springboks (Wellington, 27 July)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistants: Angus Gardner (Australia), Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Argentina vs Springboks (Salta, 10 August)
Referee: Romain Poite
Assistants: Matthew Carley (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Photo: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images