After taking charge of the Grand Final between Wigan Warriors and Catalans Dragons last week, Liam Moore has been appointed to referee Sunday’s first Test between England and Tonga.
The RFL have been appointed by International Rugby League to manage match officials and disciplinary arrangements for the series, and three different members of the RFL’s full-time panel will take charge of the three matches.
Moore, who refereed his third consecutive Betfred Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford last Saturday, will be supported by Ben Thaler as video referee, with Jonnie Roberts and Jack Smith as touch judges.
Smith will then take charge of the second Test at the John Smith’s Stadium in Huddersfield on Saturday week, with Moore switching to video referee, and Chris Kendall and Rich Thompson as the touch judges.
Kendall has been appointed for the third Test at Headingley on Saturday November 4, with Tom Grant the video official, and Liam Rush and Warren Turley the touch judges.
Appointments for the Women’s and Wheelchair Internationals in Leeds on the weekend of November 4-5 will be announced next week.
All matches will be played under international rules – which means the 18th player announced by all teams for the Men’s and Women’s internationals will become available for introduction to the match when two players have failed Head Injury Assessments, rather than three players as has been the case in domestic fixtures in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
The RFL’s Match Review Panel, which will include a new member nominated by Tonga, will review each international with the possibility of charging players for incidents of foul play – and players will be able to challenge any recommended punishments at an Independent Operational Rules Tribunal.
Golden Point Extra Time will not apply during any of the five autumn internationals – if the scores are level at full-time, the match will be drawn.
In any case, a league table would likely determine who claims the Shield at the end of the series as Shaun Wane and Kristian Woolf go toe to toe for the silverware and better preparation for the 2026 World Cup which will be around faster than you can think.
