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Kaplan: NZ guilty under pressure

Cape Town - Retired South African referee Jonathan Kaplan says Jaco Peyper was right to penalise the All Blacks for committing cynical infringements inside their own 22m area against the Wallabies in Sydney last Saturday.

Peyper has copped some criticism for his performance in the opening Rugby Championship game, which ended in a 12-all draw.

Peyper punished the All Blacks at the breakdown, and yellow carded two of their players - Wyatt Crockett in the 39th minute and Beauden Barrett in the 70th.

While admitting Peyper had made mistakes, Kaplan credited his countryman for punishing the transgressing New Zealanders in the red zone.

Kaplan shared his views via his website, www.ratetheref.co.za:

"NZ were again guilty of marginal tactics under pressure… are the referees finally beginning to understand what needs to be done to eliminate this constant in their game when they come under pressure in their 22m area? Jaco Peyper made mistakes in this game no doubt, but needs credit for dishing out the cards when they were deserved. It engenders a whole lot of trust when the referee is prepared well, and is prepared to act. Having said that, NZ can feel very proud of being able to withstand the pressure at the end of the game despite a numerical disadvantage… how many others would have?

"I’m not sure about some of Peyps general accuracy in this fixture as there appeared to be some questionable calls at the breakdown and certainly Barrett was very unlucky to be given his marching orders as it appeared that the ball was not placed at the tackle, but left the hands of the ball carrier and so it could well have been a case of general play and hence a play on situation. It was a tough call to make as the outcome depends on slow motion adjudication, and perhaps the referee just had enough of what he rightly or wrongly considered to be negative tactics. I still feel for NZ in this particular case."

The All Blacks and Wallabies again meet this week when they duel in Auckland on Saturday (kick-off 09:35 SA time).

Frenchman Romain Poite will be the referee for the clash, with Peyper one of his assistants, alongside fellow South African Stuart Berry. Another South African, Shaun Veldsman, will be the television match official.

CLICK HERE to read Kaplan's full column.
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