Rugby World Cup final: who is the referee, TMO, touch judges for New Zealand vs South Africa?

Wayne Barnes will take charge of his first Rugby World Cup final this weekend.

The long-serving referee will lead an all English match official team for the grand finale of the tournament in Paris on Saturday night. He will oversee the highly anticipated clash between New Zealand and South Africa.

The Springboks, who are defending champions, made it to the final with a dramatic last gasp victory over England. Despite being heavy underdogs going into the game, the English led until the final few minutes until South Africa's bomb squad made the difference - and for the final they've named a 7-1 split on the bench.

New Zealand ran out comfortable victors over Argentina in the other semi-final scoring 44 points and conceeding just six. The All Blacks knocked out Ireland in the quarter-finals.

Both the All Blacks and the Springboks are bidding to become the first team to lift the Web Ellis trophy for a fourth time. Australia and England are the only other sides who have won the Rugby World Cup since it started in 1987.

Who is the referee for Rugby World Cup final?

Experienced match official Wayne Barnes will take charge of the final in Paris on Saturday, 28 September. It is the first time he has refereed a World Cup final.

Barnes was announced as the referee earlier in the week and he will be joined by an all-English team for the game. The 44-year-old took charge of the All Blacks victory over Ireland in the quarter-final - he has yet to referee South Africa in the tournament.

He has refereed at five world cup - making his debut in 2007, the last time the tournament was held in France. The match official, who also works as a lawyer, is one of the highest respected English referees and in 2017 broke the all time Premiership appearances record for a referee - going on to make even more appearances in the years since that achievement.

He has taken charge of games at the 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and now the 2023 world cups.

Who are the touch judges and TMO?

The match official team for the Rugby World Cup final in Paris will be an all-English affair. Barnes will be joined by Karl Dickson and Matthew Carley as his touch judges.

The duo both refereed matches during the group stages of the tournament - and served as touch judges during the quarter-finals weekend earlier this month. It will be the first World Cup final for both Dickson and Carley.

Tom Foley will be in the hotseat as TMO. He has been a TMO throughout the tournament.

How to watch Rugby World Cup final?

ITV (and STV in Scotland) have been exclusively broadcasting the tournament in the UK and will be showing the final live. Coverage will begin on ITV1 at 7pm on Saturday night ahead of kick-off at 8pm.

Fans will also be able to watch on the streaming service ITVX - but be reminded you still need a TV licence to watch live sports on the platform. ITV's coverage is scheduled to continue until 10.50pm - but could be extended if extra time is needed to settle the match.