Rugby World Cup chiefs to study Craig Joubert’s report after clarifying TMO rules

Exit strategy: Joubert sprints off the pitch after the final whistle

19 October 2015

World Cup chiefs were today waiting to receive Craig Joubert’s report after his controversial handling of this quarter-final led for calls him to be sent home and dropped as a Test referee.

The South African sprinted off the pitch and was almost hit by a water bottle thrown from the crowd after penalising Scotland for accidental offside with 43 seconds to go, allowing Bernard Foley to kick the decisive penalty.

Joubert angered France with his handling of their 2011 World Cup Final defeat to New Zealand and has now infuriated Scotland, with former captain Gavin Hastings leading the attack.

“He should be sent home, he should be punished and should not be allowed to make an international rugby commitment again,” Hastings told BBC Radio 5 Live. “[The referee running off] was the worst thing I have seen on a rugby field in a very long time. He is not prepared to face up to the players, that is not rugby and that is not the spirit of rugby. If I see referee Craig Joubert again, I’ll tell him how disgusted I am.”

World Rugby responded to dismay over why the TMO was not consulted by stating that the technology can only be used for the act of scoring a try or an act of foul play.

Wallaby coach Michael Cheika praised Foley for keeping his nerve and revealed he had discussed at half-time taking the kicking responsibilities off the No10 after he had missed three conversions.

Cheika said: “Our kicks weren’t going through but we didn’t let that stress us. If we did, we would have changed Bernard at half-time as kicker, and we know he’s a great goal-kicker. In our team we want to own everything, even the bad stuff. We don’t want to throw the bad stuff away, we want to own it all.

“These things happen in a game and you’ve got to hold your nerve, you can’t panic every time something doesn’t go right. You’ve got to have a criteria as to what you decide. I spoke with the kicking coach, Chris Malone, and he had a very clear methodology around the decision making going forward and that criteria was met and Bernard stayed as the kicker.”

Australia, who will have flanker David Pocock and full-back Israel Folau fit to face Argentina on Sunday, will now start working on their defence after all three tries they conceded were the result of their own errors.

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Rugby World Cup chiefs to study Craig Joubert’s report after clarifying TMO rules

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