Rugby World Cup 2023: who is the referee, TMO and assistants for South Africa vs Romania

South Africa will be looking to make it back-to-back pool stage wins at the Rugby World Cup this weekend.

The defending champions overcame Scotland to make it a winning start to their title defence on Sunday, 10 September. After a close fought first half, the Springboks powered to a 18-3 victory in the second 40 minutes.

Pieter-Steph Du Toit scored the South African's first try of the tournament but it was Manie Libbok's sumptous no-look cross-field kick for Kurt-Lee Arendse's score four minutes later which won all the plaudits. Scotland boss Gregor Townsend was left rueing refereeing "inconsistency" after a tackel from Jesse Kriel went unpunished early in the game.

Romania opened the scoring against Ireland on the opening weekend - but that proved to be the high watermark. The Eastern European side were thoroughly outclassed by a strong Irish side who scored 82 points in total.

The outlook is not much better for Romania in the second round of fixtures as they face yet another stern test when they take on the World Champions this weekend.

But who will the match officials for match on Sunday, 17 September afternoon? Here's all you need to know:

Who is the referee for the South Africa vs Romania?

French match official Mathieu Raynal will take charge of his second match of the world cup when the Springboks take on Romania at Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux on Sunday. He was the man with the whistle for England's win over Argentina in Marseille in the first round of fixtures.

The 2023 tournament is his second world cup, having made his bow in 2019 - after serving as an assistant in 2015. Raynal made his refereeing debut in 2005 in the Rugby Pro D2 and has since taken charge of games in the Top 14, Champions Cup and test matches.

Who are his assistants and TMO?

He will be joined by experienced Australian referee Angus Gardner and French official Pierre Brousset as his assistants for the game. Gardner refereed Scotland vs South Africa in the first round of fixtures.

The TMO for South Africa vs Romania will be Australia's Brett Cronan - who will also be in the hotseat the day before for Samoa vs Chile.

How can you watch South Africa vs Romania?

The game will be broadcast by ITV in Britain (and STV in Scotland). The channel has exclusive rights for the whole tournament in 2023.

It will also be available to watch live on ITVX - but be reminded a TV licence is still required. The match is due to kick-off at 2pm GMT on Sunday.