France captain Antoine Dupont was critical of referee Ben O’Keeffe after his side lost the Rugby World Cup (RWC) quarterfinal 29-28 to the Springboks at Stade de France on Sunday.
A disconsolate Dupont questioned whether O’Keeffe was up to the task, although he didn’t reference specific incidents.
One issue might have been when Bok lock Eben Etzebeth knocked the ball down when France had a two-man overlap. He appeared to knock the ball back towards his own goal line, which was why O’Keeffe allowed play to continue. But the referee never reviewed it.
“I’m not sure the refereeing was at the level of what was at stake,” Dupont said.
“There are few clear things where the whistle could’ve blown. We could’ve had some crucial penalties, but I don’t want to be a bad loser.”
Coach Fabien Galthié stepped in to stop the matter going further and probably landed Dupont in trouble with the powers of the game.
“I’m not going to go there. We worked with the refs to try to play along with them and will continue to work with them,” Galthié said.
‘There is a lot of frustration and emotion after the game. We all watched this game. We’d like to congratulate the South African team and wish them well.
“There are so many key moments. When you’re leading 7-0 and Etzebeth cut off the ball. That was…