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World Rugby have been able to appoint a wider range of Six Nations’ referees than recently, and we will see a few who we have not been involved for some time. South African Jaco Peyper whistles the start of proceedings with Ireland v Wales on Saturday. He will conclude affairs in the crunch tie between France and England, and he will be a very busy man with several assistant appointments to boot.
One of the most experienced on the circuit he will be pleased to have the atmosphere of a full house, it will not faze him, he will enjoy it. His wealth of experience includes more than fifty test matches, two World Cups, with a third on the horizon; throw in several Currie cup and Super rugby finals and, well, he’s just about done it all.
Control on Saturday will be important, and with Sexton and Dan Biggar as the respective captains, Peyper will be carefully preparing his communication with both No10’s – they are not well known as shrinking violets, he will not want feisty chats.
Peyper had a useful warm-up in Ulster v Scarlets recently, where he was correctly criticised for reducing a “red” card offence to “yellow,” for a horrible high hit by Craig Gilroy on Tom Rogers. The Scarlets’ player was dropping, but perhaps not suddenly. In any case, the protocol around the foul play law states that a highly reckless hit does not permit any mitigation. The citing commissioner, former top international referee Alan Lewis, correctly stepped in and reported to the judiciary.

The real key to the Andy Farrell-Mike Catt ambitious game plan will be lightning quick ball from the breakdown

The point here is that it must be hoped that this was “just” a referee misjudgement, and not a difference in interpretation between the two hemispheres. Englishman Stuart Terheege is the television match official ( TMO) and they will know the importance of being on the same wavelength.
Let’s look at the key elements which will dictate much of what happens. Peyper’s style is to let the players play, and he is unlikely to sweat the small stuff. What will Ireland want? The real key to the Andy Farrell-Mike Catt ambitious game plan will be lightning quick ball from the breakdown, with nothing slowed down, which Wales would never dream of doing. They will also want a stable scrum to use as an attacking platform, and open play space – as in on-side – to be protected. Ireland also have great “poaching” abilities, and they’ll want that rewarded, meaning side entry cannot be a feature of events.
No pressure then. Well, not really, because all of that is what the referee will want too.