Angus Gardner and Ben O’Keeffe will both reach the 50 Test milestone as referees in the 2025 Men’s Six Nations after the match officials were announced on Thursday.
Referees from seven national unions have been picked across the 15 Championship games, which kicks off on Friday, January 31 with France facing off against Wales.
Elsewhere, Pierre Brousset will make his Championship debut with the 2025 Six Nations featuring 13 referees as officials look to shine in the upcoming Championship.
With 406 Tests across the referees, alongside a panel of assistant referees and Television Match Officials, the team has a wealth of top-level Test rugby experience.
Milestone Tests
Gardner will become the first Australian to reach 50 Tests as a referee while O’Keeffe is the first New Zealander to reach 50 internationals for a single rugby union.
The pair will join Luke Pearce (England) in the active 50-Test club, alongside the recently retired Mathieu Raynal (France), who reached that milestone last year.
Paul Williams (New Zealand) referees the opening game between France and Wales – his 40th Test in charge – as Matthew Carley (England) brings the curtain down on the Championship with France v Scotland.
Sam Grove-White (Scotland) will make his Men’s Six Nations debut as an assistant referee, as will Mike Adamson (Scotland), Andrew Jackson (England), Richard Kelly (New Zealand), Tual Trainini (France) and Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa) as TMOs.
World Rugby Chair and Chair of the Emirates World Rugby Match Officials Selection Committee Brett Robinson said: “The Guinness Men’s Six Nations represents the pinnacle of international rugby in the northern hemisphere and the officials selected for next year’s edition feature depth of experience and emerging talent. All are at the top of the game.
Building to World Cups
“Every international window next year represents an opportunity to develop talent depth and strong foundations as we build towards Men’s Rugby World Cup Australia 2027 and beyond to USA 2031. Congratulations all.”
World Rugby High-Performance 15s Match Officials Manager Joël Jutge added: “Rugby is a thrilling sport when played and officiated at its best. Collaboration between World Rugby and the teams is important to achieving that goal, and I would like to thank all the coaches and players for buying into an open process of defining the critical few focus areas and ongoing calibration to ensure a fair contest and a great spectacle.”
France v Wales
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Friday, 31 January, 2025
Referee: Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Jordan Way (RA)
TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)
FPRO: Damon Murphy (RA)
Scotland v Italy
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Saturday, 1 February, 2025
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
FPRO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
Ireland v England
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Saturday, 1 February, 2025
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referee 2: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZR)
FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
Italy v Wales
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Saturday, 8 February, 2025
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
FPRO: Glenn Newman (NZR)
England v France
Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Saturday, 8 February, 2025
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FPRO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
Scotland v Ireland
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Sunday, 9 February, 2025
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
FPRO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
Wales v Ireland
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Saturday, 22 February, 2025
Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
England v Scotland
Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Saturday, 22 February, 2025
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO: Tual Trainini (FFR)
FPRO: Quinton Immelman (SARU)
Italy v France
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Sunday, 23 February, 2025 Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Chris Busby (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Ireland v France
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Saturday, 8 March, 2025
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Christophe Ridley (RFU)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
FPRO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
Scotland v Wales
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Saturday, 8 March, 2025
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
FPRO: Tual Trainini (FFR)
England v Italy
Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
Sunday, 9 March, 2025
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Craig Evans (WRU)
Assistant Referee 2: Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Italy v Ireland
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Saturday, 15 March, 2025
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO: Tual Trainini (FFR)
Wales v England
Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Saturday, 15 March, 2025
Referee: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
Assistant Referee 2: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
France v Scotland
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Saturday, 15 March, 2025
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FPRO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/six-nations-match-officials-announced-as-new-zealander-to-referee-france-v-wales-opener
