South African Jaco Peyper will referee the Super Rugby final, SANZAAR announced on Tuesday.
Peyper has been in the spotlight this week after a controversial yellow card decision in the Lions-Hurricanes semi final last weekend, resurrecting the debate around the use of neutral referees in finals matches.
SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos said the selection process was a merit-based one.
“SANZAAR congratulates Jaco Peyper and all the match officials selected to this year’s final," he said.
"The match official selection is never easy as we have a very dedicated group of officials who week in week out perform very professionally and to very high standards.
“The selection criteria for all match official appointments for the last two years follows a clear tournament policy - as agreed by the SANZAAR Executive Committee and the tournament’s stakeholders – that such appointments be merit-based.
“This policy is written into the tournament protocols and appointments are made according to this policy on a weekly basis and is also the policy used for the finals last year as well as this year.
“This merit-based policy was reflected with the appointment last year of New Zealand referee Glen Jackson to referee the Hurricanes versus Lions final in Wellington. SANZAAR stands behind the policy and believes the best referees should be available to officiate the best matches."
The Lions host the Crusaders in Johannesburg on Sunday morning, kicking off at 12am AEST, LIVE on FOX SPORTS.
REFEREES
Super Rugby final referees
Match Referee Jaco Peyper
Assistant Referee (1): Glen Jackson
Assistant Referee (2): Marius van der Westhuizen
Television Match Official (TMO): Marius Jonker.
