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Galthie opens old wound with rebuke of RWC referee and one Springbok
By Josh Raisey
Five months after France crashed out of their own World Cup at the hands of eventual winners South Africa, Fabien Galthie has revisited the fateful quarter-final match in Paris to take aim at the refereeing performance of Ben O’Keeffe.
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Speaking at a review of France’s recent Guinness Six Nations campaign in Marcoussis, the head coach of Les Bleus addressed the 29-28 loss to the Springboks, something that many believe had an impact on their recent form.
While France captain Antoine Dupont was forthright in his excoriation of the officiating in the aftermath of the loss, Galthie was much more reserved. However, he took the opportunity this week to discuss the topic.
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“We lost the quarter-final for rugby reasons but also for refereeing decisions,” he said, as reported by French outlet Midi Olympique (translated by Google).
“We also spoke about it with Ben O’Keeffe during a recent meeting at World Rugby.
“The decision is part of the match and we accept it. You will never see me react directly to an arbitration decision. But we can discuss it coldly.
“In a World Rugby committee, I therefore had the opportunity to speak with Ben O’Keeffe.
“At one point in the meeting there was a discussion about the behaviour of the selectors. I took the floor and said that we had a major role as educators and that we must behave with respect towards the referees. This is fundamental.
“I told him that my players had been strongly impacted by questionable decisions. Everyone agreed on the fact that some decisions weren’t the right ones. He wasn’t at all happy with his performance either.”
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The South Africa players themselves were not out of the firing line of the former scrumhalf’s rebuke, with flanker Kwagga Smith being singled out.
“There is a ball stolen with elbows on the ground by Kwagga Smith which gives three points to the Springboks, for example.
“We today we want to count on the work of regulation and rules undertaken in these World Rugby committees. We must make our voice heard.”
France finished second in this year’s Six Nations, beating Wales and England in the final two rounds of the Championship.
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Following a dismal loss to Ireland in the opening round, Galthie’s side scraped to a win over Scotland in round two before drawing to Italy in Lille- a result whereby they were saved by Paolo Garbisi’s infamous late penalty miss.
Galthie and his coaching staff were under serious pressure heading into the final two rounds, but he may well have saved his job with two markedly improved performances, capped by an epic 33-31 win over England in Lyon.
To be fair - Galthie has the right to complain about the refereeing of BoK at the World Cup.
But he should get a 12 month ban for doing so.
Ban him and just give him a bib, doesnt need the mic then.
The issue in this match was not that O’Keefe made bad calls - in every match referees make bad calls and the teams must be prepared for that - but rather that its refereeing was not in line with the 2023 World Rugby guidelines regarding the breakdown. Before 2023 Galthie’s France was happy to play without the ball and focused on kicking and a strong game at the breakdown to recover the ball and score points/flash counter-attack. That changed with the new regulations and the France/Italy 6N match, from which their strategy had to evolve to a game including more possession. In this quater-final the refereeing was very lenient regarding ground play and the boks took advantage of that, something that their opponents failed to do as their were just waiting for the whistle.
Actually I believe the issues the springboks had with refereeing consistency the years before served them well for this world cup as they manage to adapt in most situations (and perhaps playing in both hemisphere helped as well). For instance in the semi-final against England, BoK was way more strict regarding what player could do in the ground, and that gave a lot of troubles to the south africans in the beginning of the match, however they managed to adapt and recover in time.
having a laws consultant (Jaco Peyper) in the team is a good example of how the boks adapt to the game - including its many (and often bewildering) rules changes.
France needs to learn to win without Dupont. Calls will always go with you and away from you - don’t put yourself in a position where the ref wins/loses you the game
If you’re a dominant team, dominate. The 1st game in 6 Nations showed how underprepared France was for a good team. Inconsistency always costs France so I think it’s a flaw in the drilling / approach
Well said. Unfortunately for me, the French have gone over to the SH side with huge forwards (plus Dupont) but forgotten how to run the ball like they used to. And of course now the Boks are adding the running rugby with some incredible backs but couldn't demonstrate that in the autumn wet weather. Wait till 2027!