Rugby chief says referee fled ‘hostility’
Print Edition
REFEREE Craig Joubert fled “hostility” when he ran off the pitch after awarding a controversial penalty that secured Australia’s World Cup semifinal place at Scotland’s expense, World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper said yesterday.
Australian coach Michael Cheika also defended the South African referee over the penalty that has made Joubert the target of Scottish ire.
Joubert ordered a last-minute penalty that Brett Foley converted to give Australia a 35-34 win in Sunday’s quarter-final at Twickenham. Video replays indicate it probably was not a penalty however.
Joubert ran off at the end without shaking hands with the two sides. Some media reports said a bottle was thrown at him as he departed.
“Maybe he was keen to get to the bathroom, who knows?” Gosper told BBC radio. “I’m sure as a referee he sensed a bit of hostility.
“When you have a hostile 82,000 people, for whatever reason, who knows how that affects behavior.
“Craig Joubert is a superb referee and has been for a long time and he’s a good man. There will be reasons for whatever Craig did.”
Joubert ruled that Scotland’s Jon Welsh was deliberately offside and awarded a penalty. Television replays indicated that Australia’s Nick Phipps touched the ball back to Welsh and that Joubert should have awarded a scrum instead.
Joubert’s ruling came under attack from several former internationals. Scotland great Gavin Hastings said: “If I see referee Craig Joubert again, I am going to tell him how disgusted I am. It was disgraceful that he ran straight off the pitch at the end like that.”
Australian coach Cheika said: “I don’t like the way that people are making something out of the way he ran off the field. You’ve got to assess the things for what they are and not the more romantic nature of what we’re all thinking. He’s just a person like everyone else.”
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