Jaco Peyper, the Springboks’ laws and discipline advisor, says the Television Match Official in Saturday’s Test against Ireland used facts to make his decisions.
Peyper’s response comes after Ireland coach Andy Farrell said the TMO’s decisions at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria had “a dubious thought about it”.
Ireland had a James Lowe try cancelled in the second half, after a TMO review decided that Ronan Kelleher should instead be penalised for playing the ball on the ground at a ruck.
“It’s pretty simple. When the TMO decisions go onto the screen it must be fact-based. The most obvious one is where a try was disallowed because there was an infringement at a ruck,” said Peyper, who retired from refereeing after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
“The TMO has all the angles and he would have seen a few of those types of actions in the lead up, and when you score points off that, they are going to have to look at the turnover.
Some comments from RG Snyman after the final whistle in Pretoria...#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/8RE2EeRWML
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 6, 2024
“Factually, the player is off his feet and he turns over possession.
Later in the second half, the TMO also ruled that Lowe had kept the ball in play after a Handre Pollard touch-finder, from which Cheslin Kolbe snapped up the ball to score. After numerous replays, the on-field try decision stood.
This was a huge turning point in the game, as the Test match was still in the balance.
“It’s fine margins, so they have to be very clear. Rather have one replay too many,” said Peyper.
“On field decision is a try, so it means it stands until there is evidence that proves otherwise. They couldn’t prove with the evidence that he touched the ground, so you have to stay with the on-field decision.
“If we were on the other side we would have felt aggrieved, but they had a clear process and we could follow it.”
Meanwhile, Peyper came out in defence of the Springboks’ 6-2 bench split, saying that fresher legs off the bench leads to less injuries on the rugby field.
🗣 "It is not safe!"
🗣 "I have no criticism for South Africa or Rassie, because it's legal."
🗣 "The responsibility is on World Rugby."
Matt Williams speaks strongly on rugby's sub laws after South Africa brought six forwards on in one go against Ireland. #SAvIRE pic.twitter.com/5wkAHsGaS7
This comes after former Scotland coach Matt Williams again criticised the make-up of the Springboks’ bench against Ireland, saying it discriminates against the backline players.
“The law says you can do it, I don’t think that makes it dangerous,” said Peyper.
“I think what makes it dangerous, if players don’t drop their height and level change going into contact. When players take risk in the air, and don’t respect other players in the air.
“Ireland played with a 6-2 split three times in the Six Nations. Nobody talked about it then. It’s talked about [when we do it] because it is effective.
“A fresh pair of legs doesn’t make rugby dangerous. A study says the risk of injury goes down when fresh players enter the pitch.”
@JohnGoliath82
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