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.
But there were two, erm, “dissenting” voices on the matter…
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