Ireland legend has his say on Peyper's Euro Final appointment
SPOTLIGHT: Ireland and Leinster legend Brian O’Driscoll says South African referee Jaco Peyper has “earned the right’ to officiate this season’s Champions Cup Final.
Leinster will face defending champions La Rochelle in the final in Dublin on Saturday and Peyper will have a big spotlight on him.
The 43-year-old is making history by becoming the first South African official to referee an EPCR Final.
Leinster and La Rochelle also met in last year’s Final and on that occasion, it was Wayne Barnes, who was that man with the whistle.
However, EPCR has decided to have him referee Friday’s Challenge Cup final between Glasgow and Toulon.
“I can’t say I have studied the life out of him [Peyper] in the last number of years,” O’Driscoll told RugbyPass in an interview ahead of the Final.
“Obviously, he dips in and out of European rugby and we see more of him internationally.
“It’s pretty clear, it’s striking the balance between being conversational, respecting the captains but feeling very much as though you are in control as well and he has earned the right to get himself a final.
“The fact that these two teams played last year and Wayne Barnes was in the middle, it was a smart decision by EPCR to give it to another referee.”
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#⃣ICYMI We get the insights into the @ChampionsCup #Final face-off between @leinsterrugby and @staderochelais 🏆#Rugby 🏉#RugbyUnion🌍
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With Peyper being the man in the middle, O’Driscoll is expecting both teams to do plenty of homework on the South African.
“I can’t say I have got any major hang-ups about his game but then I am not scrutinising him the way video analysts are in different respective teams, so maybe my intel is not as good as theirs.
“Players and teams do analysis on the referees as much as they do on the opposition. They are an integral part of the game and how it flows and all referees are hot on certain aspects of the game and will always set their stall out very early on with a quick penalty be it for not rolling away or staying onside. They always have their own little pet peeves within games.
“So, you have to play the referee as much as you play the opposition and show the picture that you know he is going to look for. You also get messages from them beforehand in the dressing room, so you need to adhere to exactly what that is and what they are saying and in conjunction with their assistant referees.
“It’s such an important part of the professional game that you are playing the opposition, but you are also playing the referee.
“Hopefully, he [Peyper] will be the quietest man on the field but invariably there will be someone who will feel some decisions have gone the wrong way or he has leaned too heavily on one side versus the other.
“That happens in every game, not just in finals.”
Source: @RugbyPass
