South Africa’s Christopher Allison is one of 12 match officials to take the whistle at the Junior World Championship 2026 in Georgia, World Rugby announced on Wednesday, with a month to go until the JWC 2026 kicks off.
Fourteen national unions are represented across the 12 referees and four Television Match Officials selected for the expanded age-grade tournament, which runs from 27 June to 18 July in Tbilisi and Kutaisi.
Apart from Allison, who was in charge in last weekend’s SA Cup Final, the other selected referees are Kevin Bralley (France), Ruairidh Campbell (Scotland), Ben Connor (Wales), Gonzalo de Achaval (Argentina), Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland), Reuben Keane (Australia), Saba Makharadze (Georgia), Luke Rogan (USA), George Selwood (England), David Vosalevu (Fiji), and Morgan White (Hong Kong China).
Four TMOs complete the panel in Matt Rodden (Hong Kong China), Aled Griffiths (Wales), Paulo Duarte (Portugal), and Francisco González (Uruguay).
World Rugby Talent ID Manager and Tournament Referee Manager Johnny Lacey said: “The selection of this panel highlights the officials that are coming through our pathway system. It’s great to see all of World Rugby’s regional associations and regional competitions represented.
“I would like to thank the regional referee managers and regional competition managers for their work and commitment to developing these officials through their competitions.”
The world’s top 16 U20 teams will play matches across two cities in Georgia with Tbilisi and Kutaisi hosting matches, just as they did when the tournament – then called the World Rugby U20 Championship – was held in the country in 2017.
South Africa are the defending champions after beating New Zealand in the 2025 final in Italy, and the Junior Springboks also arrive as the U20 Rugby Championship winners, while France successfully defended their U20 Six Nations title earlier this year.
The Junior Boks’ opening clash with Uruguay on Saturday 27 June at the Avchala Stadium, Tbilisi will be handled by Ruairidh Campbell of Scotland.
The expanded format see Fiji, USA, Japan and Uruguay joined the 12 teams from 2025 with teams split into four pools of four, two hosted by Tbilisi and two in Kutaisi.
The top teams in each pool will contest the semi-finals with their title dreams still alive, the four second-placed teams will play-off for fifth to eighth, the third-placed teams for ninth to 12th and the remaining four teams for 13th to 16th places.
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The Rugby World Cup is held every four years and is the premier international rugby union competition. The inaugural tournament took place in 1987, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Since then, the competition has grown significantly in size and popularity.