South African referee AJ Jacobs will take charge of the Sharks’ clash with the Melbourne Rebels in Ballarat on Saturday.

There are five matches on Saturday with proceedings starting in Ballarat, where Jacobs will referee the first-ever match at MARS Stadium as the Rebels take on the Sharks.

Next up, the unbeaten Chiefs face Aussie Conference leaders the Brumbies in Hamilton. Brendon Pickerill has the whistle while Nic Berry will be in Brisbane as the Reds play their first match at home this season when they host the Sunwolves at Suncorp Stadium.

The tournament’s only other unbeaten team, the Stormers, welcome the Jaguares to Newlands with Rasta Rasivhenge in the middle. The weekend action closes in Pretoria this week where the winless Vodacom Bulls will hope to kick-start their season with a victory over the Blues at Loftus Versfeld. Marius van der Westhuizen will be the referee.

REBELS vs SHARKS (Ballarat, Saturday, 5:45am)

Referee: AJ Jacobs (SA)
Assistants: Damon Murphy, James Quinn (AUS)
TMO: George Ayoub (AUS)

STORMERS vs JAGUARES (Newlands, Saturday, 3:05pm)

Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (SA)
Assistants: Egon Seconds, Griffin Colby (SA)
TMO: Willie Vos (SA)

BULLS vs BLUES (Pretoria, Saturday, 5pm)

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (SA)
Assistants: Cwengile Jadezweni, Divan Uys (SA)
TMO: Joey Klaaste-Salmans (SA)

Photo: Gallo Images