The 34-year-old is one of the youngest referees on the IRB's elite panel and will take charge of the Rugby Championship opener between Australia and defending champions New Zealand at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney on August 16.

On the same day, Irishman John Lacey will be in the middle for the clash between South Africa and Argentina at Pretoria's Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

Lacey's compatriot, the experienced George Clancy will be in charge for Australia against South Africa at Patersons Stadium in Perth on September 6.

The line-up for the Rugby Championship features a mixture of northern and southern hemisphere referees for the 12 matches of the tournament, which runs from August 16 to October 4.

France will be represented by three officials who will all take charge of matches in New Zealand.

Romain Poite, Pascal Gaüzèr and Jérôme Garcès will referee All Blacks games at home against Australia, Argentina and South Africa respectively.

Romain Poite is one of three Frenchmen who will take charge of matches in this year's Rugby Championship ©Getty Images



Welshman Nigel Owens is the only man to be handed control of two games in the Championship and will be the man in the middle when South Africa host Australia at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town and will also be in charge when the Wallabies visit the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza to take on Argentina.

That game takes place on the final day of the Championship, which will also see England's Wayne Barnes officiate the South Africa versus New Zealand clash at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg in what could be a potential title decider.

Joining Peyper from the southern hemisphere will be his compatriot Craig Joubert who has been handed the Argentina versus New Zealand match at the Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in Buenos Aires.

New Zealand's Steve Walsh will take charge of Argentina's match with the Springboks at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena in Salta, while compatriot Glen Jackson has been appointed to the Australia Argentina meeting at Gold Coast's Cbus Super Stadium.

In addition, Joubert will be in the middle for the one-off Bledisloe Cup match at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium between Australia and New Zealand on October 18.

Meanwhile, the appointments for the remaining Rugby World Cup 2015 qualifiers have also been made.

Argentine Federico Anselmi will take charge of the repechage semi-final between Uruguay and Hong Kong at the Estadio Charrua in Montevideo.

Luke Pearce of England will be in control of the other repechage semi-final, which will see Russia host the runner-up from the Africa Cup qualifying competition on August 2 or 3.

The African series is currently being played between Madagascar, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

The winners will qualify automatically for England 2015.

Englishman Luke Pearce will be calling the shots during Russia's Rugby World Cup 2015 qualifier with the African Cup runners-up ©Getty Images



The winners of the two repechage semi-finals will then take part in a two-legged play-off, with Clancy in charge of the first leg on September 27 and 28, and Poite overseeing the second leg on October 11 or 12.

"The Rugby Championship 2014 appointments have been made following careful consideration to recent performances at elite level, including the June Tests and other IRB Tournaments," said John Jeffrey, chairman of the IRB Match Official Selection Committee.

"We continue to consult with coaches in making our selection decisions and I would like to thank unions for their full commitment and support of the official feedback channels."

To view the full IRB match appointments list list click here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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