Rugby World Cup 2023: who is the referee for France vs New Zealand? TMO and assistants confirmed

The Rugby World Cup will being with a mouthwatering clash at the Stade de France on Friday.

France, the tournament's hosts, will take on New Zealand under the lights in Paris. It is a clash that will go a long way to deciding who will top Group A.

It is a rematch of the 2011 final in which All Blacks eeked out a 8-7 victory at Eden Park in Auckland. The teams met again four years later in the quarter finals but it was a fair less tense affair with Les Blues falling to a 62-13 loss.

The match at the Stade de France is highly anticipated as both France, who won the Six Nations grand slam in 2022, and New Zealand are among the favourites to lift the trophy. Ireland and South Africa are also hotly tipped to go deep into the tournament.

But who will be the referee and the match official teams for the match on Friday, 8 September?

Here's all you need to know:

Who is referee for France vs New Zealand?

South Africa’s Jaco Peyper will be the man with the whistle for the opening game of the Rugby World Cup on Friday night.

Peyper is no stranger to opening matches, having refereed the England versus Fiji opener at Rugby World Cup 2015 at Twickenham. He will also use a special whistle presented by adventurer Ron Rutland, who is cycling 21,000 kilometres from Auckland to Paris to deliver the whistle and raise money for ChildFund Rugby.

The 43-year-old has been a referee at the top level for many years now - and refereed games at both the 2015 and 2019 world cups. He was also the match official for the Champions Cup final between La Rochelle and Leinster earlier this year.

His last world cup match was the 2019 quarter final between Wales and France in which he sent off Sébastien Vahaamahina for an elbow.

Who are the assistant referees and TMOs?

Peyper will be joined by a full team of officials for the match at the Stade de France on Friday night.

His assistants will be English referees Karl Dickson and Christophe Ridley. England's Tom Foley will be the Television Match Official for the hotly anticipated game.

How to watch France vs New Zealand?

Fans in England and Wales will be able to watch the game on ITV - while it will be shown on STV in Scotland. It will also be available to watch on the ITVX streaming service.