Peyper doesn’t cane Crusaders
The Crusaders must have felt like blowing referee Jaco Peyper a kiss when they escaped with a 14-8 victory over the Lions in Johannesburg on Sunday morning.
There was no false modesty on display when the Crusaders declared the Lions had forced them to drain their tanks in the Super Rugby match at Ellis Park, because until Peyper blew fulltime there was always a fear the Lions would rip them off in the final seconds.
Anyone who watched last year’s pulsating final between these two teams will remember Peyper’s role in that match, with his decision to red card Kwagga Smith swinging the game in the Crusaders’ favour as they recorded a 25-17 win.
Peyper made several controversial decisions in the re-match, disallowing two tries to Crusaders’ wing George Bridge after it was ruled Mitchell Hunt had fired two forward passes in the first half. In the second spell David Havili also had a fivepointer scrapped because replays showed Manasa Mataele stepped out during the build-up. But Peyper couldn’t be accused of being one-eyed.
With two minutes left the ref refused to yellow card Bridge for taking Marnus Schoeman in the air when he was receiving a high pass. As soon the sin was committed several Lions played raised their arms to protest the foul and Bridge – not surprisingly – looked very nervous. As it happened, Peyper, having consulted with his TMO, deemed he wasn’t going to reduce the Crusaders to 14 men.
‘‘For me, both players jumped at the ball,’’ Peyper explained. ‘‘And then after that, the chaser (Bridge) does make contact … Penalty only.’’
It certainly raised the ire of the crowd. Not that it was the Crusaders’ problem.
From the subsequent lineout the Lions mounted the predictable drive, but were thwarted by a counter-shunt and Peyper ruled a scrum in the Crusaders’ favour. With less than a minute on the clock, the visitors’ retained their composure and Mitch Hunt’s clearing kick into the stands sealed the deal.
‘‘We really defended at some critical moments; that last maul, when we held them up and shut them down … there were some great contributions,’’ Robertson said.