Peyper again for the Final
He is one of only 27 referees who have refereed a Currie Cup final since the first one in 1939.
For him it is again an exciting honour, a privilege.
It is also the third time that he has refereed these two teams this season. He refereed them in the league match when the Sharks won in Durban and in the last league match of the season when Western Province won in Durban.
It will be the second time he has refereed them in a final. The first time was in his first final, in 2012. And it will be his second big final this year because he refereed the Super Rugby final in August when the Golden Lions played Canterbury at Ellis Park.
Last year Peyper refereed the final between the Free State Cheetahs and the Blue Bulls, which the Free State won.
That means that in two finals – Super Rugby this year and Currie Cup last year – those who chose him have ignored the boundaries of Jaco's life. For his a Free Stater – Bloemfontein bred and educated. His school was the great Grey College, his university Kovsies, his place of residence Bloemfontein and his place of employment Bloemfontein where he is a lawyer with the firm Peyper Attorneys, who still use him as a consultant.
Peyper's maternal grandfather, Japie Theron, was a Currie Cup referee, a chairman of Orange Free State referees and a man much involved in rugby.
His grandson, also Jacob, played rugby – No, he was not a lock – until injuries suggested that he find a different involvement in rugby and in 2001, aged 20, he started go referee.
It has been a glorious career – 40 Tests, 84 Super Rugby matches and 69 Currie Cup matches. He refereed at the 2015 World Cup.
Jaco Peyper is a referee with experience and he says that as he goes along he enjoys refereeing more, learning to let the game be.
Asked if his family would go, he said they would not as he would be leaving for Europe from Durban after the match.
Peyper's wife Zenobia is a sportswoman and understands the demands on her husband as she spends her time with daughter Nina and baby daughter Lee. Her husband is home for roughly six months of the year and that is quality family time.
Rugby will get a good deal from the referee on Saturday.
