South African Jaco Peyper has been chosen to referee the Super Rugby final between the Lions and the Crusaders in Johannesburg this weekend.
The move came despite Kiwi media calls to appoint a "neutral" referee - probably Australia's Angus Gardner - to handle the match between the New Zealand and South African heavyweights.
New Zealander Glen Jackson is one of Peyper's assistants, with Marius van der Westerhuizen the other and Marius Jonker the television match official.
Peyper, 37, was criticised in the wake of the Lions' 44-29 semi-final win over the Hurricanes, with many believing he made several key decisions which went the Lions' way.
However SANZAAR chief executive Andy Marinos has backed-up the selection policy, saying Peyper is the best man for the job.
"The selection criteria for all match official appointments for the last two years follows a clear tournament policy - as agreed by the Sanzaar Executive Committee and the tournament's stakeholders - that such appointments be merit-based," he said in a statement.
"This policy is written into the tournament protocols and appointments are made according to this policy on a weekly basis, and is also the policy used for the finals last year as well as this year.
"This merit-based policy was reflected with the appointment last year of New Zealand referee Glen Jackson to referee the Hurricanes v Lions final in Wellington.
"Sanzaar stands behind the policy and believes the best referees should be available to officiate the best matches."
Match referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson & Marius van der Westhuizen
Television match official (TMO): Marius Jonker
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