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Twitter despairs as Springboks get ref Garces for semifinal
The French arbiter has proven to be a nemesis for South Africa in the past, including the pool game against the All Blacks.
Referee Jerome Garces gestures during the Rugby World Cup 2019 Group B game between New Zealand and South Africa at International Stadium Yokohama on September 21, 2019 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
South African rugby fans on Tuesday morning woke up to the news that French referee Jerome Garces will be in charge of the Springboks’ World Cup semifinal meeting with Wales in Yokohama on Sunday.
The outcry on Twitter was predictable.
The Boks have only won four of the 14 matches in which Garces has blown the whistle and, to compound matters, have only triumphed once in the last ten.
The 45-year-old certainly also didn’t endear himself to local fans during South Africa’s 13-23 loss to the All Blacks in their opening pool match last month, where a lopsided penalty count had many fuming.
Here’s how Twitter reacted.
Jerome Garcais in charge of the SA vs Wales semi final! How can World rugby justify this decision, as it can not be based on capability!
— Kobus Wiese (@4KobusWiese) October 22, 2019
@rugbyworldcup allowing Jerome Garces to ref a semi-final? I'm speechless in how a body that is supposed to be fair has missed every country he has officiated complaining. Above an beyond, clouding the fairness of this entire tournament. @WorldRugby #MoneyTalks
— Net Ek 🇮🇱🇺🇦🇿🇦 (@SeWatEkWil) October 22, 2019
Jerome Garcés in charge of SA v Wales 😡
— Mr. (@mrbones05) October 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/dee_ai89/status/1186519698667724800
So despite being the worst referee at the Rugby World Cup by several orders of magnitude AND after the enormous amount of criticism over the way he handled the match between SA and NZ on the opening weekend, @WorldRugby have seen fit to inflict Jerome Garces on the Boks again
— ZA_Llama_BE (@DevonCBritton) October 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/ajzor_za/status/1186520545053069312
https://twitter.com/KhotsoMoloko/status/1186522664078364672
If Jerome Garces has been following mood back home in France then we're in trouble. French people are mad at our Jaco Peyper.
— Tat'uRadebe (@hlubizer) October 22, 2019
Jerome Garces before every game he officiates: pic.twitter.com/kc2zmNrE8Y
— Johnny Orli 🍅 🎗️ (@theofficialorli) October 19, 2019
https://twitter.com/JeffmasterM/status/1186528865709105153
Jerome Garces and an all French trio get the reffing stint for the semifinal. Are we surprised? Nope. Will there be any sanity in the way the breakdown and offsides are reffed. Probably not. It will be a lottery #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/l8IsvH2szo
— Brenden Nel (@Brendennel) October 22, 2019
But there were two, erm, “dissenting” voices on the matter…
Agree. Jerome Garces a very good ref. Same as Poite and Raynal. French refs get criticized unfairly. Their accent and the language barrier make them come across badly. They referee the game very well though.
— Hanrick Swart (@hanrickswart) October 22, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJadUAgIYgU
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