Warren Gatland felt the change in referee knocked Wales off their stride as they crashed out of the World Cup with a 29-17 quarter-final defeat to Argentina in Marseille.
South African official Jaco Peyper hobbled off with a calf injury after Wales had scored their first try in the 15th minute, taking a 7-0 lead in a match they had dominated.
But with Karl Dickson replacing Peyper their ascendency slipped away and Argentina came on strong in the second half with tries from Joel Sclavi and Nicolas Sanchez sweeping them into the last four.
Head coach Gatland was full of praise for the Pumas’ performance but also felt events had conspired against Wales.
“It probably didn’t help with the referee getting injured. That was a little bit disruptive in terms of the game,” said Gatland, who confirmed his commitment to remaining in charge of Wales until the 2027 World Cup.
“We were 10-0 up and were thinking that if we take a few of the opportunities that were presented to us. Unfortunately we gave away a couple of soft penalties.
“It does throw you off. We were comfortable with Jaco Peyper and the relationship we have with him in terms of his control of the game.
“It’s nothing against Karl but you do a lot of analysis through what referees tend to be tough on and what they are looking for.
“We hadn’t prepared for the change. Sometimes that happens in a game and you just have to deal with it. That is the way Test match rugby goes sometimes.”
A controversial refereeing decision saw Guido Petti hit Nick Tompkins in the head with his shoulder in the third quarter but Dickson and TMO Marius Jonker ruled there was no foul play.
It was explained that because the tackle had been called, Tompkins was falling and Petti entered legally while bent at the waist, there was no offence. Argentina went over from the same period of play to stretch their lead.
“It would be interesting to see what happens in terms of the feedback from the panel,” Gatland said.
“He (Dickson) felt that Nick has dropped his height and he said it wasn’t foul play. I would need to go back and look at it, but it was probably at least a penalty situation.
“Sometimes those things happen in a game in big moments and can swing things. That is just the way it is.”
Dan Biggar’s final match for Wales ended in disappointment with the fly-half eventually departing in the second half having taken a bang to the chest early on, possibly exacerbating a pectoral muscle injury he had been carrying.
“Dan has been a great servant for Welsh rugby. He has been through some incredible highs and some lows as well. To see him come into the side and mature and develop as a player, that has been pretty special,” Gatland said.
Argentina were transformed from the team routed 27-10 by 14-man England in their group opener and head coach Michael Cheika insisted the lessons of that defeat had been learned.
“We knew that first game would be rough for us and we learned a lot from it because we had a lot of World Cup first timers,” Cheika said.
“There hasn’t been a radical turnaround, we’ve just built from what we’ve learned. The progress hasn’t been lineal, but all that work we put in as a foundation has paid off.
“We’re starting to get a bit of flow and one thing this team has always had is lots of flow. We just didn’t handle the occasion against England well.”
'Job not done' for Springboks after All Blacks triumph, says Kolisi
South Africa captain Siya Kolisi warned his team the job is far from done despite them rallying for a thrilling victory over New Zealand in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The Springboks secured a 31-27 win over the All Blacks at Ellis Park, coming from behind with two late tries from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams.
The victory hauled South Africa onto 14 points in the Championship standings as they bid to end New Zealand's four-year stranglehold on the title, but Kolisi says there is still work to be done.
Addressing the capacity crowd in his post-match interview, Kolisi said: "We play for a lot but you people are our number one motivation.
"We appreciate you every single day. Please don't stop. When times are tough, please keep supporting us. We cannot do it without you.
"We respect the All Blacks. No matter what people say about them, when they need to turn up, they turn up. We believed in ourselves, we didn't panic, and we did what we wanted.
"They were catching us on the exit. After the first try in the second half, we picked it up. I'm really proud of the boys but the job is not done."
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett, meanwhile, was proud of his team-mates' efforts but admitted they had just fallen short of putting together a complete performance.
"Well done to the Springboks, it showed the class team they are," he said. "We weren't quite good enough. We were good for 62 minutes and it's an 80-minute game.
"There were two key moments after kick-offs where we couldn't quite get out of our half and they punished us. It was a huge effort, we're certainly proud, but it was just not quite to be.
"We'll regroup pretty quickly. Some guys have played here for the first time. It's intense and we'll have to be better next week."
South Africa host New Zealand again in Cape Town next week, while Australia go to Argentina for their round-three matchup.
Rowe swaps Norwich for Marseille in season-long loan deal
Jonathan Rowe has completed a season-long loan move to Ligue 1 side Marseille after a breakthrough campaign with Norwich in the Championship.
Rowe, who made 56 appearances for the Canaries in all competitions, has signed an initial loan deal with an option to buy for £17million.
After coming through the club's academy, Rowe made his Norwich debut in a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Premier League back in December 2021.
But the 21-year-old established himself as a regular under David Wagner last season, netting 12 times in 32 league outings as the Canaries reached the play-offs.
His 36 completed dribbles was a total only bettered by Gabriel Sara (40) and Borja Sainz (43) in the Norwich squad, while he also created 24 chances for his side.
Rowe becomes Roberto De Zerbi's 11th signing of the transfer window, offering the former Brighton manager another creative option in the final third.
Marseille started their Ligue 1 campaign with an impressive 5-1 away win over Brest last week, and welcome Reims to the Stade Velodrome on Sunday.
Lionel Messi absent for Argentina World Cup qualifiers after Copa America injury
Lionel Messi has been omitted from Argentina's upcoming World Cup qualifiers as he continues to recover from an ankle injury sustained in the Copa America final.
The superstar forward limped off a little over an hour into La Albiceleste's 1-0 victory over Colombia in Miami on July 14 and has not featured since.
Messi, 37, did not play in the MLS All-Star game, with his club side Inter Miami confirming he had sustained ligament damage to his right ankle and no timeline has been put on his return.
Lionel Scaloni has the likes of Julian Alvarez, Lautaro Martinez and Nicolas Gonzales to call upon, while Lazio forward Valentin Castellanos earns a first call-up.
Argentina face Chile in Buenos Aires on September 5 before travelling to Bogota for a rematch with Colombia five days later.
Scaloni's side, who are hoping to defend their World Cup title in 2026 by qualifying for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, are top of CONMEBOL qualifying with five wins from six matches.
The top six nations from CONMEBOL qualify for the tournament, while seventh place goes into a play-off for an additional berth.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
