Rugby World Cup: who is the referee for New Zealand vs Uruguay? TMO and touch judges confirmed

New Zealand will be looking to finish the pool stages with a bang this week.

The All Blacks have had an up and down time so far at the 2023 Rugby World Cup so far. Ian Foster's men slumped to defeat against hosts France on the opening night of the tourament - despite opening the scoring in both halves.

However after the early set backs, New Zealand have bounced back with back-to-back victories. Including a rollocking 96-17 victory over Italy - who had come into the game hoping to cause an upset.

The All Blacks have put themselves in a strong position to advance to the knockout stages next weekend. A bonus point victory would leave New Zealand on 15 points from four games.

Uruguay have impressed with their performances at the Rugby World Cup so far. After sitting out the opening round, Los Todos put up a tough challenge for a heavily rotated French side in round two - before taking a half-time lead against Italy before a yellow card derailed hopes of a major upset.

The South American side scored a win over Namibia last week in a mid-week clash. It leaves them in fourth place in the group on five points.

New Zealand vs Uruguay is the opening match of the final round of pool stage action and will kick-off at 8pm on Thursday, 5 October in Lyon. But who will be the match officials?

Here's all you need to know:

Who is the referee for New Zealand vs Uruguay?

Experienced English match official Wayne Barnes will be the man with the whistle for the game at the OL Stadium in Lyon on 5 October. It will be his fourth game of the tournament as a referee and comes after he refereed Scotland vs Romania.

Reflecting on that round four match, Barnes tweeted: "Just reviewing the Romania vs Scotland game. It’s not often you get your hand shaken after giving a player a yellow card in a Rugby World Cup. Very classy from Florian Rosu."

Barnes has refereed at five world cup - making his debut in 2007, the last time the tournament was held in France. The 44-year-old 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 refereed games at the 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and now the 2023 world cups.

Who is the TMO and touch judges?

Barnes will be joined by English official Matthew Carley and Australian referee Jordan Way as his touch judges/ assistant referees. Carley was the referee for New Zealand's previous match, the demolition of Italy in round four and was also in charge of yet another Pool A game - France vs Namibia - earlier in the tournament.

Way has served as a touch judge throughout the world cup group stage. He has not refereed any match so far in the competition.

The TMO will be South African official Marius Jonker. He has been in the hot seat four times already in the tournament and will also be TMO for France vs Italy 24 hours later.

How to watch New Zealand vs Uruguay?

ITV (and STV in Scotland) have exclusive broadcast rights for the tournament in the UK. The match will be live on ITV4 - and ITVX player - on Thursday night.

Coverage will start on ITV at 7.15pm and the match itself will kick-off at 8pm.