Rugby World Cup final referee and match officials confirmed

Wayne Barnes has been handed the honour of refereeing the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and South Africa this weekend.

Barnes is the most experienced referee in the sport’s history, but he has yet to take charge of game’s global showpiece.

He was due to oversee the 2019 World Cup final, only for England to stun the All Blacks 19-7 and secure their final place.

Lightning nearly strikes twice

That almost happened again in 2023, which would have denied Barnes the honour of refereeing the biggest game in rugby, but this time the Red Rose were edged out 16-15 by South Africa.

And with Steve Borthwick’s men ousted, the West Countryman will finally get the opportunity to take charge of the blockbuster event.

This is Barnes’ fifth global tournament, having first been involved in 2007 when the competition was coincidently held in France.

He – and his team of officials – famously missed a forward pass in the quarter-final clash between the hosts and the All Blacks, which led to New Zealand being eliminated.

Barnes bounced back from that error to become the premier referee in the sport.

In an all-English team of officials, Karl Dickson and Matthew Carley will be his assistants, while Tom Foley will be the television match official.

World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “On behalf of World Rugby, I would like to congratulate Wayne Barnes on his deserved appointment as the Rugby World Cup 2023 final referee.

“Such an appointment is a reflection of Wayne’s calibre, not just at this tournament but over a distinguished career.

Last time in charge of the Springboks

Saturday’s match will be the first time Barnes has refereed South Africa since the clash against France in the end-of-year series last November.

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus took to X, formerly known as Twitter, following that contest and appeared to question some of the decisions the Englishman had made.

That led to Barnes receiving a torrent of abuse, which included threats against his family.

“Criticism on social media quickly becomes abuse. That is the world we live in. That is social media,” he told The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast in December 2022.

🇳🇿🇿🇦 Wayne Barnes will referee the #RWCFinal in Paris on Saturday.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Englishman takes charge of the #NZLvRSA clash. #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/QgkqAkyulb

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) October 23, 2023

“But I make the decision to be a referee, I make the decision to be on social media. Polly, my wife, doesn’t make the decision to be a referee.

“On the Saturday night, there started to be some direct abuse at Polly. Then, the following two or three days there was direct abuse to Polly, threats of sexual violence and threats against the kids.

“That takes it to a different level. So, a moment when you’ve done 100 games, you’ve got a lot of experience, you think you can prepare for most things – you can’t prepare for that.”

Bronze medal match

The officials for the World Cup third/fourth play-off between England and Argentina have also been confirmed.

Australian Nic Berry will be the man in the middle with Irishman Andrew Brace and Georgian Nika Amashukeli his assistants, and Ben Whitehouse the TMO.

Jaco Peyper was given extra time to recover from a calf injury he picked up during Argentina’s quarter-final victory over Wales, but he has been ruled out.

READ MORE: World Rugby confirm match official change for England v Springboks