This whole debate around the referee’s started after the the draw to the Wallabies where Steve Hanson claims Peyper admitted he got it wrong. In the match against the Wallabies last Saturday, that was the All Blacks sixth and seventh yellow card in their last 10 tests.

Jaco Peyper, under fire from the New Zealand media

According to Hanson, Peyper said he got it wrong at the scrum, and got it wrong when it came to the first yellow card in their test last week. These claims have been echoed by the New Zealand media in recent days claiming there’s a conspiracy against the All Blacks.

Kaplan says Peyper has nothing to apologize for

The Australian media has responded by claiming the referee’s finally have the courage to call the All Blacks on their “negative” and “slow-down” play. Jonathan Kaplan has thrown fuel on the fire, backing-up the claims from some of those in the Australian media.

“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?” Kaplan wrote on his blog.

“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.”

If we look at the stats, it does kind of back the theory up.

Seven years ago, the All Blacks averaged just one yellow card every four games (25%), and in 2011, they received just one solitary yellow in their 12 tests that year (8%). That climes to five cards from 14 matches in 2012 (35%), and three cards from four tests this year (75%).

Steve Hanson has put pressure on the referee’s leading into the second Bledisloe test

“I know why we didn’t perform at the weekend,” Hansen said. “There were certain areas of our game we were very poor at, and there was another reason which we won’t go into here, but that’s been dealt with as well.”

“We’ve spoken to the referee about the scrummaging. He put his hand up, said he got the free-kicks wrong. But we can’t control [the referee], we’ve had the discussion we needed to have and moved on.

Hansen elaborated, however, when asked what Peyper had done wrong.

“Where do you want me to start?” he said.

“The free-kick he felt was wrong and he was not sure why he called pre-engage. The first yellow card was wrong — the ball was out. “It was a good conversation, I respect the man for his honesty.”

Hansen’s willingness to discuss the rights and wrongs of Peyper’s game contrast sharply to last year, when the All Blacks coach got into a war of words with Ewen McKenzie over the South African’s performance in Bledisloe II in Wellington.

On that occasion, Peyper refused to sin-bin any Kiwis despite claims from the Wallabies coach the All Blacks would attempt to kill their ball when on attack, conceding seven penalties in their own 22. When McKenzie and Will Genia questioned why Peyper hadn’t done more, Hansen said: “Usually you’re better off to play the game and get on with it, you can’t blame the ref.”

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Cheetah’s flanker Francois Uys, has seen the most minutes this year

Most minutes played:

Francois Uys (Cheetahs) 1106 minutes
Johann Sadie (Cheetahs) 1096
Willie le Roux (Cheetahs) 1081
Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs) 1081
De Allende (Stormers) , Mowen (Brumbies) & Vermeulen (Stormers) locked together on 1040

Top points scorers:

Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) 188
Bernard Foley (Waratahs) 149
Marnitz Boshoff (Lions) 148
Colin Slade (Crusaders) 148
Jason Woodward (Rebels) 134

Most trys:

Israel Folau, dominating the try tally & line breaks

Israel Folau (Waratahs) 10
Robbie Coleman (Brumbies) 7
Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders) 7
Cummins (Force), Fekitoa (Highlanders), Hodgson (Force), Moala (Blues) & J Savea (Hurricanes) all locked at 6

Most Conversions:

Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) 29
Bernard Foley (Waratahs) 28
Quade Cooper (Reds) 22
Simon Hickey (Blues) 20
Lima Sopoaga (Highlanders) 20

Most Penalty Goals:

Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) 35
Marnitz Boshoff (Lions) 34
Colin Slade (Crusaders) 32
Jason Woodward (Rebels) 31
Jacques Louis-Potgieter (Bulls)  31

Most Carries:

Kurtley Beale (Waratahs) 169
Ben Smith (Highlanders) 152
Bernard Foley (Waratahs) 145
Jesse Mogg (Brumbies) 145
Willie le Roux (Cheetahs) 143

Most Defenders Beaten:

Malakai Fekitoa, topping the defenders beaten stats

Malakai Fekitoa (Highlanders) 48
Alapati Leiua (Hurricanes) 42
Julian Savea (Hurricanes) 42
Ben Smith (Highlanders) 38
Charles Piutau (Blues) 36

Most Clean Breaks:

Israel Folau (Waratahs) 21
Julian Savea (Hurricanes) 19
Nemani Nadolo (Crusaders) 18
Alapati Leiua (Hurricanes) 17
Fekitoa (Highlanders) & McCabe (Brumbies) locked on 14

Most Offloads:

Israel Folau (Waratahs) 33
Quade Cooper (Reds) 26
Willie le Roux (Cheetahs) 20
Tawera Kerr-Barlow (Chiefs) 19
Beale (Waratahs), Fekitoa (Highlanders) & Perenara (Hurricanes) all on 18

Most Try Assists:

Quade Cooper, only player making things happen at the Reds this year

Quade Cooper (Reds) 10
Nic White (Brumbies) 9
Kurtley Beale (Waratahs) 7
Bernard Foley (Waratahs) 7
Aaron Smith (Highlanders) 7

Most Passes:

Nick Phipps (Rebels) 801
TJ Perenara (Hurricanes) 791
Nic White (Brumbies) 785
Will Genia (Reds) 774
Aaron Smith (Highlanders) 561

Most Kicks In Play:

Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) 162
Jesse Mogg (Brumbies) 130
Sias Ebersohn (Force) 111
Willie le Roux (Cheetahs) 106
Goosen (Cheetahs) & A Smith (Highlanders) both on 96

Most Tackles:

Matt Hodgson (Force) 188
Warren Whiteley (Lions) 159
Shane Christie (Highlanders) 138
Nasi Manu (Highlanders) 134
Jacques du Plessis (Sharks) 133

Best tackle percentage (With players who have made 50+ tackles only):

On fire this season, Matt Hodgson

Rob Horne (Waratahs) 98.4% (62)
Warren Whiteley (Lions) 98.1% (159)
Sam Cane (Chiefs) 97.9% (94)
Heindrich Brussow (Cheetahs) 97.3% (73)
Boom Prinsloo (Cheetahs) 96.4% (63)

Most Turnovers Won:

Matt Hodgson (Force) 25
Jaco Kriel (Lions) 23
Jack Lam (Hurricanes) 19
Marcell Coetzee (Sharks) 15
Deon Fourie (Stormers) 14

Most Turnovers Conceded:

Julian Savea (Hurricanes) 34
Nic White (Brumbies) 30
Francois Steyn (Sharks) 29
Quade Cooper (Reds) 28
Jesse Mogg (Brumbies) 27

Most Penalties Conceded:

Scott Higginbotham (Rebels) 24
Deon Fourie (Stormers) 20
Scott Fardy (Brumbies) 19
Matt Hodgson (Force) 18
J du Plessis (Sharks), Mowen (Brumbies) & Tameifuna (Chiefs) all tied on 17

Line-Out Throws Won:

Best line-out thrower in Super Rugby

Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs) 142
Stephen Moore (Brumbies) 135
Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks) 127
Callie Visagie (Bulls) 115
Nathan Charles (Force) 103

Most Line-Out Wins:

Victor Matfield (Bulls) 61
Stephan Lewies (Sharks) 59
Ben Mowen (Brumbies) 57
Michael Rhodes (Stormers) 49
Jake Schatz (Reds) 44

Most Line-Out Steals:

Ben Mowen (Brumbies) 7
Francois Uys (Cheetahs) 7
Warren Whiteley (Lions) 7
Sam Whitelock (Chiefs) 7
Matfield (Bulls), Rhodes (Stormers), Hattingh (Bulls) & Vermeulen (Stormers) all on 6

Most Minutes Played Without Conceding a Turnover:

Ben Daley (Reds) 332
Nepo Laulala (Crusaders) 279
Reg Goodes (Hurricanes) 269

Most Minutes Played Without Conceding a Penalty:

Jurgen Visser (Bulls) 942
Frank Halai (Bules) 818
Kobus van Wyk (Stormers) 641

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