Referees make mistakes, that will come as news to nobody. Make one in the last few minutes of a Rugby World Cup quarter-final that sees the plucky Scots knocked out, however, and you can expect the world to turn on you.

That includes the sport’s governing body, World Rugby publicly stating that Craig Joubert had erred in awarding the penalty that saw Australia home. Now amongst the sea of whinging Scots (we understand your pain, see 2011 quarter-final for reference) Bobby Skinstad has come out in Joubert’s defence, having this to say on Sport24:

“Joubert was a banker who devoted his life to rugby refereeing after the death of his father, also a top referee”…

“His dad made such an impact on so many schoolkids’ lives and he was bit of a legend in the KwaZulu-Natal area.

“He actually passed away from cancer and Craig had dedicated his refereeing career to the memory of his father.

“Craig is a quality individual and all the stuff around the decision has been blown out of all proportion. I’d feel really sad if any of this has got to him as a person given he has given so much to the game,” he said.

I’m sure those pleas will fall on deaf ears, given that Scottish rugby greats like Gavin Hastings have called Joubert’s jogging off at the final whistle one of the worst things he has ever seen on the rugby field. Really Gavin, in a sport where eye-gouging and ear-biting incidents have done the rounds for years?

Ozzie legend David Campese was also not impressed with the treatment of Joubert:

“I have been in games where referees have made real blunders, but whoever put that statement out saying the referee got it wrong should be shot,” Campese said.

“One of the biggest problems in world rugby is trying to get referees, and if they’re going to cop abuse every game – meaning there will be no referees – then we haven’t got a game.

“I know they make mistakes, but (you have to) live with them. If this decision had been the other way around people would be saying, ‘oh, shut up you Aussies, you whinge all the time’. That’s what sport is all about.”

You know how you really, really know when Joubert’s performance has been blown out of proportion? This from the BBC:

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho compared the referee in their goalless Champions League draw at Dynamo Kiev to the official in charge of Scotland’s Rugby World Cup defeat by Australia.

Asked about Skomina’s performance, Mourinho added: “The referee was very good. I’m serious.

“He made one mistake and, for example in the Rugby World Cup, the referee in the Scotland game was very good.

“But he made one mistake and because of that mistake Scotland is crying.”

Yes, when Jose Mourinho is referencing a sport other than football you know you’ve hit the big time.

Good luck wherever you are Craig, I would say a public statement wouldn’t go amiss but that won’t stop the Scots from hating your guts.

[sources:sport24&bbc]