SANZAAR PICKS

BALANCED PANEL

THERE WERE five South Africans named on the 2019 Super Rugby referee panel which Sanzaar announced yesterday.

South African AJ Jacobs will be making his debut in the Southern Hemisphere championship. The other SA referees are Jaco Peyper, Rasta Rasivhenge, Egon Seconds and Marius van der Westhuizen.

In total there were 15 referees announced by Sanzaar.

It comprises a mix of experienced international referees, several referees with one or two years Super Rugby behind them and some emerging referee talent in the form of Jacobs and Australia’s Damon Murphy.

Following a comprehensive review of match official performances in 2018 and to ensure continued growth in the referee team performance, the team has been reduced from 17 to 15 referees.

“The team is a well balanced mix of referees with Test and Super Rugby experience and several emerging referees who now have one or two seasons under their belt,” said Super Rugby Game Manager, Lyndon Bray.

“The experience in the team comes from Jaco Peyper and Glen Jackson, who have refereed 95 and 77 matches respectively, while we also have a group around the 40-60 mark including Angus Gardner, Nick Briant, Ben O’Keeffe and Mike Fraser. Making their Super Rugby debuts this year will be AJ Jacobs and Damon Murphy.”

2019 SUPER RUGBY REFEREES