The Springboks will have Ben O’Keeffe as their referee again for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final against England in Paris.

The New Zealander was the referee during Sunday’s quarter-final between the Springboks and France, which was won 29-28 by South Africa.

O’Keeffe also took charge of the Pool B game between the Boks and Ireland earlier in the competition, with the Irish winning this clash 15-8, at a game that was also played at Stade de France.

The Australian, Angus Gardner, will be the man with the whistle for the semi-final between the All Blacks and Argentina.

The Boks would much rather have O’Keeffe with the whistle, whereas Gardner was the man that allowed Owen Farrell’s controversial shoulder charge on André Esterhuizen at Twickenham a few years ago.

Bloemfontein’s Jaco Peyper did not come into contention for a semi-final after he picked up a calf-strain on the weekend.

Ben O'Keeffe - Getty

While the French bemoaned O’Keeffe’s officiating during the quarter-final, the Springbok coach, Jacques Nienaber, said he felt the New Zealander had a good game.

“I thought Ben was good on the day and you would say we won and that's why I'm saying that,” said Nienaber.

“We tried to take the referee out of the game – we scored four tries, and missed one or two, and one from the tee. We managed it well.

“I thought his communication on the day was excellent in terms of the decisions he made.”

Courtney Lawes - RWC

Meanwhile, in the English camp, they want to continue going about their business quietly as they have done throughout the tournament.

In a sense, the pressure is off the shoulders of England as they weren’t considered to be semi-final contenders before the World Cup, while the Springboks are the defending champions and the current world number one.

The biggest thing for the English is to leave their record against the Springboks at the World Cup in the past.  It will be the fourth time these two teams face each other at Stade de France, with the Boks winning on all three occasions, including the 2007 final.

The England attack coach, Richard Wigglesworth, said for them it’s important to tune in mentally and physically.

“We are talking about one of the best rugby teams ever, aiming to go back-to-back, who have evolved, and have had a solid coaching team for six years. They have a core group of players and they have added quality to it. They are an impressive outfit.

"We were starting from a completely different base than South Africa were, but we need to work out a way of playing this week, playing smart enough this week to get ourselves in this contest to try and win a semi-final. We acknowledge the challenge because South Africa are not only winning those tight games. they are playing better and better.

“A semi-final will be emotional anyway - we will make sure that we are fresh going into Saturday night both physically and mentally.”

Saturday’s big semi-final between the Springboks and England in Saint-Denis kicks off at 21:00.

Morgan Piek/OFM Sport