Bay of Plenty rugby referee Nick Briant, an agricultural engineer, is off to Rio de Janeiro to referee Olympic Sevens games.

He's joined by two other New Zealand referees, Richard Kelly and Jess Beard.

Richard Kelly, a joiner/glazer, is from Taranaki, while Jess Beard is a physiotherapist from Counties Manukau.

World Rugby has just confirmed their appointment as officials for the sports debut at the Olympics.

A panel of 12 men and 12 women will take charge of the matches to be played at the Deodoro Stadium in Rio over the six days, with all officials coming from the World Rugby Sevens Series.

Briant has been involved in sevens refereeing since 2010 and has controlled more than 100 first class matches.

Beard has been a top women's referee on the women's sevens circuit since 2012 and also officiated at the 2014 World Cup.

The sevens referees are managed by New Zealander Paddy O'Brien.

The Olympic referees are:

Men's games: Mike Adamson (Scotland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina), Nick Briant (New Zealand), Ben Crouse (South Africa), Craig Joubert (South Africa), Richard Kelly (New Zealand), Anthony Moyes (Australia), Matt O'Brien (Australia), Taku Otsuki (Japan), Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa), Alexandre Ruiz (France), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa).

Women's games: Aimee Barrett (South Africa), Jess Beard (New Zealand), Beatrice Benvenutti (Italy), James Bolabiu (Fiji), Sara Cox (England), Sakurako Kawasaki (Japan), Rose La Breche (Canada), Gabriel Lee (Hong Kong), Alhambra Nievas (Spain), Amy Perrett (Australia), Alex Pratt (Scotland), Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa).