Runaway Rugby Referee

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I was listening to the news on the way to work this morning and was intrigued by an interview with one of the commentators on yesterday's Australia-Scotland quarter-final game in the Rugby World Cup. This was a phenomenally exciting game which ended with Australia winning by one point. For those more used to football/soccer, this is much closer than winning by one goal. It really is the tiniest whisker of a win. It could have gone either way and I don't think many people would deny that both teams played a great game. This big issue is not that the points were scored on a 'penalty that shouldn't have been'. We all know that referees make bad decisions that change the course of sporting history. I can't personally comment on whether referee Craig Joubert was right or wrong as I'm constantly confused by what does and doesn't get a penalty. That said, it seems to be widely agreed that he WAS wrong and that his error was material in the result. The big issue is that he appears to have REALISED he was wrong and was too ashamed (or too scared) to hang around and shake hands with the players. Instead he sprinted off the pitch with a speed that the commentator described as 'Like Usain Bolt'. His behaviour has been widely condemned by players and pundits of many nations as a 'total disgrace'. This is what I love about rugby. Two teams of enormous men can beat the living daylights out of each other on the pitch for 80 minutes but will never dispute a referees decision. They will however consider he's committed the ultimate offence because he ran away and didn't shake hands. Today's controversy is not about his poor refereeing - it's about his lack of manners and his cowardice. Something tells me his days as a top-level international rugby referee are numbered.