Joubert faces unfair penalty
THe only disgraceful thing about the decision referee Craig Joubert made in awarding a 79th-minute penalty to Australia against scotland was the way in which it’s been judged (Mail). It’s totally unjust for people, however good they themselves were at rugby, to say the sort of things they did. Joubert wasn’t allowed to refer to the television match official (TMO) and had to make a split-second decision. Maybe he got it wrong, but it wasn’t disgraceful. Just as the players respected his decision, so should the spectators who were only able to see later that it might have been wrong because of the slowmotion replay. rugby players have great respect for the referee, unlike soccer players, and this over-the-top reaction to the referee’s decision by spectators and commentators is a stain on the spirit of rugby. What a shame that one of the most exciting matches of the World Cup has been left tarnished.
Rev BOB SHORT, Beeston, Notts. As a patriotic scottish fan of any sport, I took great delight in our performance in the quarter final of the rugby World Cup. The result and the ‘last minute’ refereeing decision took all the gloss from the day. It has not been helped by the ‘powers that be’ making a statement to the fact that Australia should not have been awarded the last minute penalty. Other comments from the many pundits have also not helped, especially those of the Australian coach (Michael Cheika) — would he have had the same opinion if the decision had gone against his team? The bigger question is to the International rugby Board — would the same decision have been upheld if it had gone against New Zealand or england?