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Peyper's appointment slammed by former Bok coach
By RugbyPass
Jake White is the latest to weigh in on the controversial naming of South African referee Jaco Peyper to control this weekend's Super Rugby final between the Lions and Crusaders.
Writing in a column for All Out Sports, White said:
“In a sport where coaches get hired and fired on results, and television rights are in the millions of dollars, how do we not have a neutral referee in these games?”
“I’m not saying Peyper or any other referee is cheating, but the competition opens itself up to criticism by appointing officials with national ties to one of the teams. If Peyper makes any decision against the home team, he’s vilified, and when he blows in favour of the home team, people ask questions.
“I look at Super Rugby and I ask why we don’t have money to fly an Australian referee to South Africa for the semi-finals. The Hurricanes went from 22-3 up to losing the semi-final on a massive yellow-card decision. When you look at that decision in the context of a competition where a lot of players weren’t yellow-carded for incidents that were worse than that, I can see how that’s a bitter pill for the Kiwis to swallow, and how Peyper’s nationality is an easy target.”
“Do you think New Zealand will ever play in a World Cup final with a Kiwi ref? If the answer is no, then how can we accept it in Super Rugby?”
White does raise an interesting point regarding the money-saving theory behind the decision, given that New Zealander Glen Jackson has been flown over to be one of the assistant referees.
The former World Cup winning coach is in good company with his criticism, with the NZ media taking a predictably outraged position. Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has admitted he would 'love' a neutral referee.
Speaking to Radio Sport, Robertson said:
"Look it's not my decision, but in my opinion it's more around what's best for the game. Let's get the best neutral ref, I just think it's fair."
However, it's highly unlikely that SANZAAR will reverse their decision regarding the match officials for the final.
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Latest Comments
The New Zealand performance in the return fixture in 2016 was filthy. A lot of Irish supporters were pretty shocked by it, viewed it as de facto cheating just to avoid another defeat.
Also shocked by the abuse to Ireland, captain, vice-captain and spectators after the full time whistle in Paris defeat, last match.
Sledging is sledging, but that happens during the game and targetting spectators should be completely out of bounds.
The Irish public used to enjoy these matches, even in defeat. Now they are necessary but unpleasant, because NZ apparently cannot accept or respect successful challengers.
Go to commentsThanks for the analysis Nick, thought provoking as usual. Couple of queries though, in the pic where you've circled Williams bind , I'm pretty sure it shows Stuart's knee on the ground, surely that's a NZ penalty? Also having had the chance to watch it again the All Black scrum seeems to improve after halftime, but before either England or the All Blacks replace their props. Not sure if that was the result of Tuipolutu coming on or some halftime tips. Either way this is only Williams second international season, so he'll be better for the experience.
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