World Rugby has been attacked for its admission that the referee, Craig Joubert, made an error in the closing stages of Scotland’s quarter-final defeat to Australia.
A number of high-profile figures in the game have harshly criticised the organisation for its statement on Monday evening, which stated that Joubert should have awarded a scrum instead of the penalty that allowed Bernard Foley to kick the crucial points in the Wallabies’ 35-34 victory at Twickenham.
Joubert ran from the pitch at full-time and the South African’s reaction prompted harsh words from the former Scotland international, Gavin Hastings, and the former England scrum-half, Matt Dawson. However, the Australia coach, Michael Cheika, former player David Campese and retired referee Jonathan Kaplan lambasted World Rugby’s decision to formally confirm that Joubert made an error.
“I genuinely feel for Craig Joubert. It’s so unfair. No other referee has had this stuff put out there like that and he’s a very good referee… I would have liked my mates to back me up a little more on the odd occasion, if you know what I mean. I feel for him. We talk about having the right principles in the game and all of that,” said Cheika. “Genuinely I have never seen that before. I am not sure why that decision had to be publicly reviewed and put out there. I really hope his fellow referees stand by him because – well, the fact I’m not allowed to say much about it says it all.”
Hastings described Joubert’s exit from the pitch as “despicable” while Dawson said on Twitter that the official should never referee again. However, Cheika said: “I can’t make it sound like I’m looking after Joubert here because it’s not like I’ve come from a background of pristine relationships with officialdom.
“But one thing I will say is that once the game is done and dusted, I’m as good as gold with anyone. When the game’s on and in the white lines, everyone goes hard. And afterwards, as passionate as everyone is on the field, off the field there’s no drama because it’s a game. Unfortunately in this instance, people have taken the game off the field and gotten quite personal about it. Supposedly, these are big people in the game who are earning their living through commentary and stuff like that.”
Australia will play Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals this weekend, but Joubert will not be officiating. Campese said whoever put out the World Rugby statement “should be shot”, while Kaplan, who refereed at four World Cups, also questioned the wisdom of criticising Joubert in public.
“I’m just wondering whether this is a good look for World Rugby to be criticising their own assets,” Kaplan said. “Craig is definitely in the top four referees in the world and that’s why he has been chosen to do the quarter-finals onwards. If World Rugby were going to come out and clarify the decision, there’s a lot more they could have shared with the public.”
