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The O'Driscoll verdict on Peyper getting Champions Cup final gig
Brian O’Driscoll has had his say on this weekend’s latest Leinster versus La Rochelle European encounter having a South African referee in charge rather than an official from England. Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup final in Dublin will be the third year in succession that these Irish and French rivals have clashed at the business end of the tournament.
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England’s Matthew Carley was the referee for the 2021 semi-final in La Rochelle while Wayne Barnes, his fellow countryman, was in charge of last year’s final encounter in Marseille. Both these games were won by the French side.
However, rather than appoint Barnes for this latest Leinster-La Rochelle decider, EPCR decided to have him referee Friday night’s Challenge Cup final between Glasgow and Toulon and instead have Jaco Peyper on the whistle for the Champions Cup final the next day.
It was May 12 when it was confirmed that Peyper would take charge, creating history as the first South African to referee an EPCR final and the fixture sees him return to Dublin just nine weeks after he generated headlines for his sending off of England’s Freddie Steward after a Guinness Six Nations collision with Ireland’s Hugo Keenan – a red card that was rescinded at a follow-up midweek disciplinary hearing.
O’Driscoll reckoned it was a good thing that EPCR had given Peyper the Champions Cup final assignment. “I can’t say I have studied the life out of him in the last number of years,” he told RugbyPass. “Obviously, he dips in and out of European rugby and we see more of him internationally.
“It’s pretty clear, it’s striking the balance between being conversational, respecting the captains but feeling very much as though you are in control as well and he has earned the right to get himself a final. The fact that these two teams played last year and Wayne Barnes was in the middle, it was a smart decision by EPCR to give it to another referee.
“And so, yeah, I can’t say I have got any major hang-ups about his game but then I am not scrutinising him the way video analysts are in different respective teams, so maybe my intel is not as good as theirs.
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“Players and teams do analysis on the referees as much as they do on the opposition. They are an integral part of the game and how it flows and all referees are hot on certain aspects of the game and will always set their stall out very early on with a quick penalty be it for not rolling away or staying onside. They always have their own little pet peeves within games.
“So, you have to play the referee as much as you play the opposition and show the picture that you know he is going to look for. You also get messages from them beforehand in the dressing room, so you need to adhere to exactly what that is and what they are saying and in conjunction with their assistant referees.
“It’s such an important part of the professional game that you are playing the opposition, but you are also playing the referee. Hopefully, he [Peyper] will be the quietest man on the field but invariably there will be someone who will feel some decisions have gone the wrong way or he has leaned too heavily on one side versus the other. That happens in every game, not just in finals.”
- BT Sport is home of the Heineken Champions Cup. Watch this year’s final between Leinster and La Rochelle from 4pm, Saturday, May 20, live and exclusively on BT Sport 2. Visit btsport.com/rugby
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments