JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE JOUBERT-GATE FIASCO HAD ENDED, WORLD RUGBY CHIEF EXECUTIVE BRETT GOSPER INSISTED THE GOVERNING BODY HAD NOT MEANT TO THROW CRAIG JOUBERT "UNDER THE BUS" AFTER HIS CONTENTIOUS WORLD CUP PENALTY CALL.
In the biggest controversy of the six-week tournament, South African referee Joubert came under fire after awarding a last-gasp penalty for offside, kicked by Bernard Foley, that gave Australia - on the brink of suffering a shock defeat - a 35-34 quarter-final win over Scotland.
The match was Joubert's last of the tournament, with Australia reaching the final before losing 17-34 to New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday.
In the furore that surrounded the decision, World Rugby were then criticised for taking the unusual step of issuing a statement saying Joubert, in charge of the 2011 World Cup final, had got it wrong.
"We made a clarification. If there's any regret, it's the perception we may have thrown him [Joubert] under a bus, which certainly wasn't our intent. There were questions asked around TMO protocol at the time - could you use it, could you not use it?
"It was normal for us to go on and talk about the incident itself, in a transparent way. It was normal for us to then say there was a mistake made. Craig Joubert is a world-class referee, he continues to be one of our top referees. Referees, like players, make mistakes. That was one. The perception was not where we would have perhaps liked it," Gosper told reporters at a Twickenham.
Existing rules meant Joubert was unable to call upon the TMO, with the use of replay adjudication currently restricted to the build-up to scoring a try and foul play.
In the opening match of the World Cup, England's win over Fiji, Joubert's fellow-South African Jaco Peyper was criticised for using the TMO too often, amid general complaints that replays were causing needlessly long delays to games and robbing match officials of the confidence to make their own decisions.
"The refereeing and the use of the TMO has been outstanding over the tournament, in general. These things evolve, as does technology, so as with any part of the tournament, we will look at this aspect and see if any adjustments need to be made," he added.
Joubert's decision and his action of sprinting off the field after full-time at Twickenham, provoked a storm of protest.
Agence France-Presse
