Peyper displays class under pressure with handling of Sinckler
Official keeps his cool to ensure prop is given fair treatment while being targeted by the Welsh
Going into this game Jaco Peyper would have known that Kyle Sinckler was going to be at the centre of the action. He would have done his research and that would have included reading the media and Warren Gatland’s claim that the England prop was “a time bomb”.
When you read quotes like that you are well aware that player will be targeted and I thought Jaco handled the situation – and the game as a whole – extremely well, although I was also of the opinion that Sinckler did not lose his cool as badly as other observers seemed to.
In the first half the prop was exceptional, thundering into tackles and refusing to react to any sign of provocation. To my mind he was one of the standout players in that period.
Sure, he then gave a couple of penalties away in the second half, but I do not believe either of them were overly serious in the context of a brutal Test match.
Peyper gave England a warning after his second offence, but I felt that was more about housekeeping than anything else.
And the key as a referee is to know if a player is causing trouble or when the opposition are purposefully looking for him. In this instance I do not think Sinckler was causing too much trouble. Instead, I think that with a player making that many contributions to a significant Test match there is always the risk of sanction. He made 20 tackles and got two wrong, which is far from a disastrous return.
Obviously he went off on the hour mark but after getting through that much work I wonder if he might have been expected to go off at that time anyway.
And in general I felt this was a superb Test match that Jaco refereed very well, with his execution and communication, both for the players and the public, excellent. I would put him in the top half-dozen officials in the world and this performance would, I think, mean he is a leading candidate to take charge of a World Cup quarter-final at the very least.
There was some consternation at his decision to penalise first Justin Tipuric and then Sinckler for low, no-arm tackles but I agreed with the calls 100 per cent.
To my mind these tackles, which I call grass-cutters, are the most dangerous in the game. Flying in at such a low angle, with such force, means you have a high chance of seriously injuring your opponent. I have seen legs broken, ligaments wrecked and careers ended by just this sort of challenge. A player making a tackle of this nature is like an exocet missile and I would happily see them outlawed from the game. Jaco twice penalised players for attempting them and then they stopped, which is fine by me. After that it became a fascinating Test match where I felt both sides played very well and kept their discipline superbly. A total of 12 penalties in a match of this nature is very low, and in the end it was decided by Wales carrying the ball more into those tough contact situations and drawing errors afterwards.
The clean-outs on both sides were made with real urgency and that meant Jaco was able to control the game without as much difficulty as he might have feared.
There were, in the end, very few marginal calls and neither side could complain about the quality of the officiating. And while Sinckler may end up being the subject of some consternation I feel that, too, would be unfair.
To my mind both he and Peyper pretty much kept their cool throughout the match.