Six SA referees on SANZAR panels
South Africa’s Jaco Peyper has been promoted to the SANZAR Merit Referee Panel, SANZAR announced on Thursday, pushing the South African contingent up to five out of the 12 referees.
Peyper and New Zealander Garratt Williamson have been promoted to the Merit Panel, which now comprises 12 referees. Another South African, Pro Legoete, is on the SANZAR Reserve Panel of four referees.
The other South Africans on the Merit Panel are Marius Jonker, Craig Joubert, Jonathan Kaplan and Mark Lawrence.
André Watson, Refereeing Manager for the South African Rugby Union, congratulated the six local referees for their inclusion on the two panels.
“It is a great achievement to have five out of 12 referees on the Merit Panel. We are really happy with Jaco’s elevation after a number of very good performances this year,” said Watson.
“Added to the two referees we have on the Rugby World Cup panel, this is testimony of the healthy state of refereeing at the top level in South Africa. However, we can not rest on our laurels, as the game can’t flourish without referees and we are always looking for new match officials to join our fraternity.”
The Referee Panels was finalised following a process of extensive evaluation over the first half of the season by SANZAR’s referees selectors, Tappe Henning (SA), Colin Hawke (NZ) and Andrew Cole (Aus), as well as former Highlanders and Blues coach Greg Cooper, and led by SANZAR Game Manager, Lyndon Bray.
Bray said the elevation of Williamson and Peyper was just reward for strong form over the first half of the competition.
“Both of these referees have been tracking very well during the competition. In reviewing the performance of the entire team we found that Garratt and Jaco had consistently performed as well as – if not better than – some of the Merit Panel referees. Their promotion to the Merit Panel gives us a strong base for the future,” said Bray.
The SANZAR Referees Panels are:
Merit Panel: Keith Brown (NZ), Stuart Dickinson (A), Marius Jonker (SA), Craig Joubert (SA), Jonathan Kaplan (SA), Bryce Lawrence (NZ), Mark Lawrence (SA), Jaco Peyper (SA), Chris Pollock (NZ), Steve Walsh (A), Jonathon White (NZ), Garratt Williamson (NZ).
Reserve Panel: Pro Legoete (SA), Vinny Munro (NZ), Nathan Pearce (A), Ian Smith (A).
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