Jaco Peyper on the Springboks, law changes, cards and the TMO

Springbok laws advisor Jaco Peyper addresses media in Cape Town. Picture: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images After attending the World Rugby Shape of the Game conference in London last week, former Test referee and current Springbok laws advisor Jaco Peyper briefed the media on South Africa’s compliance with the laws and areas for improvement ahead of a busy season building towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Peyper was part of theSouth African delegationat the summit, where he said he doubted any fundamental law changes would be introduced before the global showpiece.

South Africa and France resisted moves to reform or replace the scrum, stressing the need to protect rugby’s core identity. “The consensus was we have to keep the identity of rugby,” Peyper told media at Saru House in Cape Town. While no major reforms are expected, he acknowledged that minor adjustments could be made if player-safety concerns arise.

Peyper said the Springboks had “adjusted alright” to recent changes but identified tackle height as an area for improvement. “We have a bit of work to do to make sure our taller players do the level change, get the wraps right. Because those things happen so quickly.” He explained that this required conditioning and technical work at franchise level and during Bok alignment camps before the Test season.

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Peyper added that one had to be reasonable about the penalty count whenthe Springboksdefend for extended periods. “But we don’t want to give avoidable penalties away. We want to be… a team that doesn’t concede penalties that are avoidable, silly or undisciplined. Teams have to force us into penalties.” Addressing the debate around permanent and 20-minute red cards, Peyper said World Rugby’s position was that full red cards should be reserved for “non-rugby actions or clearly reckless actions”.

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