South Africa's Jaco Peyper received the first refereeing assignment at the Rugby World Cup, between England and Fiji at Twickenham on Sept. 18.
Peyper was the man of the moment. He will whistle the Super Rugby final on Saturday between the Hurricanes and Highlanders in Wellington, New Zealand. Then he moves on to ref the historic test in Apia, where Samoa will host the All Blacks for the first time next Wednesday.
The match officials for the pool stage were released by World Rugby on Wednesday, and all but one of the 23 officials will be in action on the opening weekend.
Of the major pool games, Jerome Garces of France will control England-Wales on Sept. 26, Romain Poite of France will have England-Australia on Oct. 3, and Craig Joubert of South Africa has Australia-Wales on Oct. 10.
The appointments for the knockout stages will be made after the pool stage. The final is on Oct. 31 at Twickenham.
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