‘Unhappy’ Joubert continues to feel strain says friend Kaplan
‘I’ve yet to see much said about Scotland butchering the throw at the lineout.’ Referee Jonathan Kaplan
CRAIG JOUBERT is unhappy and under strain following the unprecedented attacks on him in the wake of the contentious conclusion to the Australia-Scotland quarterfinal, says his friend and fellow South African referee Jonathan Kaplan.
Outraged critics are insisting the quarterfinal between Australia and Scotland should be Joubert’s last as a top referee after he awarded a penalty for offside that led to Bernard Foley kicking a last-minute penalty for a 35-34 win to Australia on Monday morning (NZ time).
Joubert, 37, left the field quickly after the match, sparking torrents of more criticism, and has not commented publicly.
‘‘I have been in contact
with him, he is not happy, and is taking a bit of strain but is coping well,’’ said Kaplan, who was a referee in a record 68 tests. ‘‘I am letting him be for a couple of days, and I know what it is like to feel like you have let people down.’’
Much of the criticism of Joubert came because of his hasty exit without the customary handshakes with players, which Kaplan could not explain.
‘‘I have always found him to be very courteous to all those around him, both on and off the field,’’ Kaplan said. ‘‘Perhaps he felt he didn’t want to get involved in further controversy with disgruntled players and coaches.’’
Kaplan took the unusual step of criticising Scotland’s decisionmaking in the lead-up to the penalty. ‘‘I don’t accept the vitriolic comments [against Joubert].
‘‘While not detracting from the controversy and its aftermath, I’ve yet to see much said about Scotland butchering the throw at the lineout. They had a chance to win possession, maul it, and win the game. They didn’t. I know it doesn’t excuse a potential error by the officials, but let’s try and be even handed if we are going to criticise.’’
Kaplan
still
rated
his
fellow South African as ‘‘definitely in the top four referees in the world’’.
But World Rugby took the unusual step of confirming Joubert’s last decision was inaccurate, and should have resulted in a scrum for Australia instead of a penalty. In the frenzy following a late lineout, Joubert penalised Scotland prop Jon Welsh for intentionally playing the ball in an offside position after it rebounded forward off teammate Josh Strauss. He didn’t see the ball come into contact with Australian halfback Nick Phipps, which would have changed the ruling.
To prevent any repeats, Kaplan has suggested each team should be given a captain’s challenge to review any decision in a match.
Without access to replays, though, other referees said Joubert should have erred on the side of caution if he wasn’t 100 percent sure. Graham Henry, who coached the All Blacks to the World Cup title in 2011 with an 8-7 win in the final that Joubert refereed, agreed with the cautious approach.
‘‘Whatever the rulebook rights and wrongs of that final penalty, it surely needs to reflect the severity of the offence,’’ Henry wrote in The Guardian newspaper. ‘‘On such fine margins are matches decided and reputations made.’’
Australia coach Michael Cheika has repeatedly defended Joubert since the match ended in a cacophony of booing at Twickenham.
‘‘It is a bit surprising because no other decision in the tournament has been reviewed,’’ Cheika said of the World Rugby clarification. ‘‘I’ve 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. Unfortunately in this instance, people have taken the game off the field and gotten quite personal about it.’’
Of the four referees from the quarterfinals, Joubert and Nigel Owens of Wales missed out on semifinals. Jerome Garces of France will handle New ZealandSouth Africa, and Wayne Barnes of England will take charge of Australia-Argentina.
Being from South Africa, and having four southern hemisphere teams still in contention, Joubert may not have been allocated a semifinal anyway. Owens is a candidate for the final. The question now is whether Joubert will ever referee a test match again.
Craig Joubert