Cape Town - SANZAR has announced the referee appointments for the first four rounds of the 2013 Super Rugby season, which kicks off with the Rebels hosting the Force on Friday, February 15.

List of Super Rugby referees for Rounds 1-4

The 18th season of Super Rugby will feature only Australian Conference teams in its opening round, with the match at AAMI Park in Melbourne joined by the Brumbies hosting the Reds at Canberra Stadium on Saturday, February 16.

The Waratahs have a Round 1 bye, while the New Zealand and South African Conferences kick off on Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23, resulting in Round 2 comprising a full list of referees for the seven fixtures.

SANZAR Game Manager, Lyndon Bray, was delighted to announce the first referee appointments of the 2013 Super Rugby season.

“Our mix of seasoned referees and new faces is obvious when seeing Rohan Hoffmann, Jason Jaftha, Nick Briant and James Leckie refereeing in the first four weeks, with the likes of veterans Jonathan Kaplan, Chris Pollock and Steve Walsh controlling matches from Round 2,” Bray said.

"The first stanza of the competition allows us to get our referee team out in the middle and gauge early form, with the entire team getting the chance to blow the whistle during the first eight weeks. That helps us make good value decisions around form, as the competition continues to unfold."