Seething Scottish rugby fans have set up an online petition calling for referee Craig Joubert to be banned from Scotland for life.
The South African official awarded Australia a controversial penalty in the last minute which allowed Bernard Foley to slot over a match-winning kick in their 35-34 win over Scotland in Monday morning’s (NZ time) quarterfinal at Twickenham.
Joubert awarded the Wallabies a penalty for accidental offside and without the option of being able to refer the matter to the Television Match Official due to rugby’s rules, Scottish skipper Greig Laidlaw’s protests for a review upstairs fell on deaf ears.
The Scots were also unhappy when New Zealand-born winger Sean Maitland was sinbinned earlier in the second half for a deliberate knock on.
Joubert then caused further outrage by dashing off the field — reportedly without shaking any hands of the players — after he blew the final whistle, ending Scotland’s Rugby World Cup in truly heartbreaking fashion.
Rounding out his tough day at the office, the referee was then almost hit by a bottle launched in his direction by an outraged fan in the crowd at Twickenham.
The petition on www.change.org is “Petitioning the people of Scotland” to “Ban Craig Joubert from Scotland for life” and boasted almost 700 signatures — just short of its target of 1000 — within hours of being launched.
The caption beneath a picture of Joubert reads: “Petition to have a lifetime ban imposed upon referee Craig Joubert after his s* decisions put Scotland out of the 2015 Rugby World Cup”.
Referee Craig Joubert shows a yellow card to Kiwi-born Scottish rugby player Sean Maitland (left) during Monday morning’s heartbreaking quarterfinal loss to the Wallabies in London.
The petition went up shortly after the game and Joubert’s Wikipedia page was also temporarily tinkered with to read: “South African professional rugby union referee who hates the Scotland National Rugby Union”.
