No neutral refs defies belief

OPINION: Referees are, by their very nature, neutral. I’m sure we’d all agree about that.

It’s just that, sometimes, that neutrality has to be reinforced by appointing genuinely neutral referees to fixtures.

If you were the Brumbies a week ago, it’s unlikely you’d have done handstands when New Zealand’s Glen Jackson was given the job of refereeing your Super Rugby quarterfinal against the Hurricanes.

Perception is reality and people will naturally assume a New Zealand ref has a greater affinity for New Zealand players. That’s not to say he favours them, but no-one can doubt the familiarity.

Ultimately you walked away from the quarterfinal thinking any rub of the green probably went with the Brumbies.

To eliminate any perception of bias, it would be understandable if a referee were harder on their own.

You eliminate that by appointing someone who can’t be accused of partiality.

As will be the case in Christchurch on Saturday, where Jackson is down to control the semifinal between the Crusaders and the Chiefs.

Not so in Johannesburg, after South Africa’s Jaco Peyper was selected to do the Lions v Hurricanes game.

Like Jackson, Peyper is an excellent referee.

New Zealand fans will well remember the outcome of the test match he reffed during the recent British and Irish Lions series, compared to the tests done by France’s Jerome Garces and Romain Poite.

But Peyper has now been put in a position where people will greet his appointment to the Hurricanes game with a raised eyebrow.

Referees are given these games on merit, rather than nationality, and, without wanting to labour the point too long, Jackson and Peyper are both worthy of semifinal duty.

As is Australia’s Angus Gardner, who might well come in to do the final.

It’s just that all of Peyper’s decisions at Ellis Park are now going to be viewed through the prism of nationality.

Is he too hard on the Lions? Too soft? Too familiar? Too willing to engage with their captain and not the Hurricanes’?

They’re questions that these games could actually do without.