SA referee Jaco Peyper will officiate at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
After 21 years as a referee – 15 of it spent travelling for up to five months a year – more than 100 trips into Australia and New Zealand, burning through four maxi passports (48-pager documents for frequent travellers), 67 Test matches in the middle, 65 on the touchline and officiating in four British and Irish Lions series, among others, Jaco Peyper’s retirement from rugby lasted all of two weeks.
Having made the call to retire, thanks to a persistent calf injury-cum-Achilles tendon issue, South Africa’s former premier referee had decided to mark the occasion by treating his wife, Zenobia, to a dinner and a bottle of wine to tell her she and daughters, Nina and Lee, would have him back around the house again.
But then he got a call from Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus to finish something he had started with the world champions en route to their successful World Cup title defence last year.
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