26 people have been selected to assist at the upcoming Rugby World Cup this year and two of them are South African; meet Jaco Peyper and Marius Jonker.
South Africa (11 May 2023) – We are all getting ready for the upcoming Rugby World Cup, teams are busy training and building morale, spectators are saving for the live games or stocking their bar fridges and World Rugby is in full swing with making final arrangements. They recently announced the 26 match officials that will be working during the world cup and two of them are South African.
Jaco Peyper has been selected to referee at the World Cup and Marius Jonker will be Television Match Official (TMO).
“World Rugby has confirmed the team of match officials who have been selected for the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France later this year.
A total of 26 Emirates Match Officials (12 referees, seven assistant referees and seven Television Match Officials) representing nine nations with more than 630 test appearances between them, will take charge of the 48 tournament matches. The selection has been made on merit.”
So let’s meet our South Africans, shall we?
Jaco Peyper
According to World Rugby, Jaco Peyper holds the record of matches refereed in Super Rugby, having passed the 100 mark in 2019, and he is the third South African after Jonathan Kaplan and Craig Joubert to handle 50 tests. He started his career in 2011, refereeing Kenya 21-26 Zimbabwe.
He has refereed at two World Cups so far including 2015 and 2019. This year will be his third, which is an incredible accomplishment for his career.
When asked what the best thing about being a referee is, Jaco said he gets the best seat in the house!
“A lot of great things! If I had to pick … the best seat in the house, developing your performance and character under pressure over time, and making so many lifelong friends from different cultures around the world.”
Related Story
Marius Jonker
Marius Jonker is a former referee turned TMO. He refereed the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France. In 2019, he became a TMO where he worked at the World Cup in the same year.
Marius was the TMO during the British and Irish Lions Tour in 2021. He left a few of the fans with something to talk about.
Its always tough being the referee and TMO because you can never make everyone happy. We have faith out proudly South African gents will make us proud during the world cup. Congratulations on being appointed for this task!
by 