2019 Rugby World Cup: Wynne Gray: The biggest problem with the Rugby World Cup so far

Jaco Peyper should not be in any discussion about controlling any major playoff matches at the tournament says Wynne Gray. Photo / AP

Admiration for the crowds, the stadiums and Japanese hospitality is soaring while their national side ripped up the World Cup form guide.

Officials from World Rugby will congratulate each other as attendances, upsets and reviews of the infrastructure have left a buzz of bonhomie after the first week of the tournament.

Behind all that feel-good flow those same administrators need to get real about the work of the match officials from the referees to television match judges.

And while they are on that case World Rugby should get interactive and offer those marvellous crowds and armchair watchers round the globe some help with referees' decisions.

Right now it's baffling enough for the players when the referees make their rulings so how spectators are supposed to understand what is going on is another level.

On the evidence of his work when Argentina held out Tonga in the appetiser to Japan's boilover, referee Jaco Peyper should not be in any discussion about controlling any major playoff matches at the tournament.

His performance in tandem with the work of TMO Rowan Kitt left you wondering how they earned their appointments. At one scrum the Pumas loose-head prop buckled and nosedived into the turf but the Tongan tight-head prop was penalised. What was that all about?

Tell us, then we could feel more connected to the game. A microphone hooked into the stadium speakers would have let Peyper tell us why he made that decision.

Japan is at the forefront of technology and I'll wager they could sort out a solution for the next round of matches if World Rugby allowed them.

Instead all of us and the players were left in a vacuum. I watched the match with a former top-class rugby player and we shrugged our shoulders throughout about Peyper's rulings.

On another occasion, Peyper and Kitt decided after brief viewings that Tongan wing David Halaifonua had been tackled into touch when another angle strongly suggested he had been shoulder-charged.

Earlier Peyper was well out of position and unsighted yet awarded a try to the Pumas hooker who lost control of the ball. It was one episode in a succession of baffling judgments.

Peyper's performance built a strong case around comments from Tongan coach Toutai Kepu that tier two nations got their share of poor decisions.

The mediocrity of a number of referees struggling to cope with the game's convoluted laws has been the shady handbrake on the sunny tournament.

We saw the uncertainty of Monsieur Garces when the All Blacks opened their programme and that perplexing theme has continued through games and into the after-match as well.

Officials cited and banned Reece Hodge for three weeks but that vigilance and judgement on others has been as erratic as Peyper's performance.

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