Cape Town - The United Rugby Championship organisers have made the big call to appoint an overseas official, Andrew Brace, as the referee for Saturday’s final between the Stormers and Bulls at Cape Town Stadium (7.30pm kickoff).
Brace, who will turn 34 this week, also handled last year’s PRO14 final between Leinster and Ulster in Dublin.
He is a former scrumhalf and utility back who played club rugby in Limerick and later for the Belgium national team.
Brace was born in Cardiff, but later moved between Ireland and Wales, and also studied at Plymouth Marjon University in England. But his rise to the top refereeing circles came after working as a community rugby officer for Munster Rugby, and he has been in charge of Test matches as well.
He is renowned for his calm but firm demeanour on the field, and is usually clear in his explanations to the players. That will be vital on Saturday in the red-hot cauldron of Cape Town Stadium, as things will get heated in a South African derby.
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But that begs the question: Was it the right call to appoint a foreigner for the all-SA decider? Jaco Peyper is regarded as the best local referee and one of the leading officials in the world, and would have been ideally suited for the job as well.
Peyper is one of the assistant referees for the URC final, alongside another SA official in AJ Jacobs, with Marius van der Westhuizen as the TMO.
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All four South African teams in the URC have complained of the different interpretations from officials from the European countries, with the scrums, maul defence and breakdown the main bones of contention.
There is also the ‘home crowd’ factor, with referees sometimes tending to feel the pressure of the fans in the stands and giving the 50-50 calls to the home side.
So, with Peyper having dealt with many Stormers-Bulls games before, he may have been a better bet for the URC final.
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