Peyper to referee RWC opener

Dublin - South Africa's Jaco Peyper will have the honour of refereeing the opening match at Rugby World Cup 2015 in England as the hosts take on Fiji at Twickenham to kick off 44 days of unmissable action, World Rugby announced on Wednesday.

The six-week tournament takes place from September 18 to October 31 and will be hosted in 10 English cities and in Cardiff, Wales.

Peyper, who is 35-years-old and has refereed 20 internationals to date, will handle the RWC opener on Friday, September 18 in London and he will be joined by assistant referees John Lacey of Ireland and Stuart Berry also of SA. Another South African, Shaun Veldsman, will act as television match official (TMO).

Peyper and compatriot Craig Joubert will both handle four matches during the pool stage. Berry, also, was handed four fixtures as assistant referee while Veldsman will adjudicate 10 matches as TMO.

Joubert’s first match in charge of the whistle is the clash between France and Italy on September 19 at Twickenham, a fixture where his countrymen Berry and Veldsman will also be on duty.