SA referee Jaco Peyper hangs up his whistle

South African referee Jaco Peyper has decided to put away his whistle, after handling 67 Test matches in a career that has spanned 17 years.

Peyper, 43, is third on the list of South Africans who have refereed the most Tests, behind Jonathan Kaplan and Craig Joubert.

Peyper was involved in three Rugby World Cup tournaments, handled several Rugby Championship, Currie Cup, United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup matches.

Sixth most-capped in history

He is the sixth most-capped referee in history and was the man in charge in nine finals: five Currie Cup, three Super Rugby and one Champions Cup – as well as two RWC quarter-finals. He also refereed numerous matches in the Six Nations as well as one Test between the All Blacks and the British & Irish Lions in 2017.

Peyper made his Test debut when he took charge of the match between Kenya and Zimbabwe in July 2011, and his last Test was the RWC 2023 quarter-final between Wales and Argentina in Marseille on 15 October. He refereed 14 matches across three Rugby World Cups (2015-23), with Japan 2019 quarter-final between Wales and France his 50^th Test in the middle.

Peyper said that rugby was part of his DNA and that he was privileged to have spent so many years involved in the game.

‘Great journey’

“I literally grew up next to the rugby field as my dad was a coach, and later on I played and coached the game before I took up the opportunity to go into refereeing,” said Peyper.

“There are always tough times at high end refereeing, but since making my first-class debut 17 years ago, rugby has only been good to me.

“It’s been a great journey, I have made many wonderful friends and I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many fantastic places around the world.

“All things considered, now is perhaps the best time to step away from active refereeing to spend more time with my lovely wife and two beautiful daughters, as well as my growing business interests.”