Although Ireland coach Joe Schmidt reiterated his disagreement with CJ Stander's red card in the first test at Newlands, he insisted that referees were not to blame for his side's 2-1 series loss to the Springboks.
Although Ireland coach Joe Schmidt reiterated his disagreement with CJ Stander's red card in the first test at Newlands, he insisted that referees were not to blame for his side's 2-1 series loss to the Springboks.
Saturday night's test at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium saw Springbok full-back Willie le Roux yellow carded for a late challenge on his opposite number, Tiernan O'Halloran.
The incident bore a strong resemblance to Stander's tackle on Patrick Lambie at Newlands. However, Le Roux's punishment was more lenient – although he has subsequently been banned for one Super Rugby game.
Nevertheless, New Zealand-born Schmidt refused to criticise Saturday's referee – his fellow countryman, Glen Jackson.
"I don't really make comments on those incidents. Other people deal with them. I probably would still say that we were disappointed with CJ's red card in the first game, but I haven't got any comment to offer, really, on the incident this evening," he said.
"We spend six hours going back through the game to deliver our referee report. We send that back and we get a bit of feedback from referees. We use the official channels to comment."
Schmidt also offered a word of support to professional referees, stating: "They're an incredibly important part of the game.They have an incredibly difficult job to do – and I think they go out to do it as best they can."
"We could probably point the finger at a few errors that we made today. We might have done enough to get over the line otherwise. Referees are very human as well."
