The match officials for Round #2 of The Rugby Championship, as selected by World Rugby, have been confirmed.

The Rugby Championship, Round #2, kicks-off at Westpac Stadium in Wellington where Australian referee Nic Berry [pictured below] is in the middle as the All Blacks host the Springboks. Berry has grown into one of Super Rugby's emerging referee talents and he refereed a Super Rugby semi-final this year. He made his test debut in 2016 and has taken charge of nine tests to date and refereed in this year's 6 Nations tournament. His performances have been rewarded with a spot in the 12-man Rugby World Cup referee team. The former player will take charge of four pool matches in Japan.

The second match of the round in Brisbane will see  New Zealand referee Ben O'Keeffe take charge of the Wallabies versus Pumas match at Suncorp Stadium.  Now one of Super Rugby's established referees, he has also been rewarded with a place as one of the 12-man referee panel for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. He made his test debut in 2016 (Samoa v Georgia) and has taken charge of 14 tests to date.
 

Match  New Zealand v South Africa @ Westpac Stadium, Wellington 
Date  Saturday 27 July
Kick-off  19:35 local
Referee  Nic Berry (Australia)
AR1  Angus Gardner (Australia)
AR2  Shuhei Kubo (Japan)
TMO  Rowan Kitt (England)

 

Match  Australia v Argentina @ Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane                   
Date  Saturday 27 July
Kick-off  19:45 local
Referee  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
AR1  Paul Williams (New Zealand)
AR2  Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)