Former Australia winger David Campese has criticised World Rugby for its statement on the incorrect call made by referee Craig Joubert in the final moments of Sunday's Rugby World Cup quarter-final between the Wallabies and Scotland.
Australia advanced to the last four thanks to a one-point victory that was sealed by a late Bernard Foley penalty, which World Rugby admitted yesterday should not have been given by Joubert.
Campese feels that the South African official should not have been publicly blamed and that whoever put out the statement "should be shot".
"I have been in games where referees have made real blunders, but whoever put that statement out saying the referee got it wrong should be shot," the 52-year-old told talkSPORT. "Now you're actually saying the referees are bad.
"One of the biggest problems in world rugby is trying to get referees, and if they're going to cop abuse every game – meaning there will be no referees – then we haven't got a game.
"I know they make mistakes, but [you have to] live with them. If this decision had been the other way around people would be saying, 'oh, shut up you Aussies, you whinge all the time'. That's what sport is all about."
Australia coach Michael Cheika also said today that Joubert, who is not officiating either semi-final, was unfairly singled out.
Pascal Lemesre
