France coach Fabien Galthie said referee Ben O'Keeffe admitted he was “not satisfied with my performance” in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.
Les Bleus, who hosted the tournament, were eliminated in the quarterfinals by eventual champions South Africa.
The Springboks won 29-28 and advanced to the semi-finals, completely crushing France.
battle of the six nations
That disappointment lingered and appeared to have affected their performances in the early stages of the Six Nations as they suffered a heavy defeat at home to Ireland.
They then narrowly escaped with a win against Scotland at Murrayfield before almost losing to Italy in the third round.
Galthie himself seems to be struggling to get over his frustrations at the World Cup, and during his Six Nations briefing he spoke about O'Keeffe's performance in the quarter-finals.
“Losing in the quarter-finals was not just about rugby, it was about refereeing. I spoke about it with Ben O'Keeffe at a recent World Rugby meeting,” he told reporters. Told.
“This decision is part of the game and we accept it. You will never see me react directly to the referee's call. But we can discuss it calmly.
“So at the World Rugby committee, I had the opportunity to speak to Ben O'Keeffe. At one point in the meeting there was a discussion about the coach's conduct.
“I spoke up and said we have a big role as educators and we have to behave with respect towards referees. This is fundamental.
“I told him that the players were strongly affected by questionable decisions. We all agreed on the fact that some decisions were not correct. He was also not at all satisfied with his performance. There wasn't.”
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Discussion surrounding the decision
When a match is decided by a close margin, the referee's decision is inevitably subject to debate.
France themselves have benefited from tight calls at the end of games in their recent wins against Scotland and England.
These incidents were commented on loudly in the immediate aftermath, but perhaps not as much as Kwaga-Smith's arm, and Galthie was still annoyed that the Springbok back-rower was given a penalty.
“For example, there was a ball turned over by Kwaga-Smith with his elbow on the ground, which gave the Springboks three points,” he said.
“We want to look forward to the regulatory and rules work that will take place in these World Rugby Board meetings today. We must make our voices heard.
“We need to have our perceptions heard. We want to play on an equal footing with the South and the rugby home countries.”
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