So in the light of Peyper's admission....

....are refs fair game. Or do we just accept rulings from on high as one sanctimonious Board member suggests? Firstly we need to congratulate Peyper for having the guts to do this, although I do wonder if Hansen betrayed a confidence. Still even if it was intended to be  a private admission, it sets a new standard in transparency.

But it also points out refs can be very wrong and need to be open to input during the game. Too often objections from one side are summarily tossed out. And ref performance needs to be openly judged if we want to make progress, not just handled within the referee club.

The Springboks lost a good chance of winning the RWC through the amazing incompetence and perhaps bias of Bryce Lawrence. That's a high price to pay and will happen more often if refs aren't openly held accountable.

When brain surgeons, CEO's and heads of state are routinely assessed, why should rugby refs get a pass? Out with the dark smoky rooms, in with the bright light.

Ofcourse we cannot read into the man's motives but maybe he's got integrity.

Never liked his irritating reffing style...very legalistic and dogmatic...loves the whistle and throwing his little weight about...a little man complex (Napoleon Bonaparte).

Thrives on dishing out cards...there is never a game without one if you're lucky...usually 2 and 3 is not uncommon. These little fellas get a sense of power through this...ofcourse everything within reason and balance but this guy is heavily lopsided in these areas.

Anyway kudos to him for his apparent integrity...this quality I really respect and it takes all types to make up this world...lolz...even old codgers like Mike and Mozart waving their walking sticks at each other in frustration and putting up with that fellow from Mars who landed accidently in Canada and is still learning how to spell words...English is atrocious even worst than Canadians not to mention his neighbours across the way...don't know how a puritan of taste like Mozart can put up with the abuse...lolz.

What all this proves is that all the nonsense written above about world conspiracies, match fixing, corruption, etc. (as all the same bs usually written here by some posters), is just this: nonsenses.

Peyper had a bad day ( a very bad one i would say) and that's all.

How to avoid this is another story. IMO the remedy is very difficult to find. The TMO has been an advance in this sense but any other measure implemented could slow the game in an undesirable way, as pakie said the rugby rules are very complicated and need a lot of interpretation.

The only thing to do is to accept it as part of the game. Refs are humans and can make mistakes, it's in coaches' and teams' hands to get over it.

If a team is not able to get over the refs' mistakes, as it happened to the AB last sat because all the mistakes they did, they'll draw or lose the game and have to accept it, both teams and fans