Peyper's appointment slammed by former Bok coach

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.