France captain Dupont unhappy with ref after Les Bleus fall to Boks in World Cup quarterfinal

Great game and it was ever so close! I just can't wrap my head around Faf the gaffe - what was he thinking?? With around a minute and half to go and well in the French half, he gifts the ball and possession to the other side when the standard go-to play is to keep the ball recycled within the forwards. That is what teams do from the last 4 minutes onwards if they are ahead and need to close out the game. His blunder nearly cost us the game as the French attacked with huge desperation and even conceding a penalty from around halfway could have sunk us. Virtually unforgiveable!

"One issue might have been when Bok lock Eben Etzebeth knocked the ball down when France had a two-man overlap. He appeared to knock the ball back towards his own goal line, which was why O’Keeffe allowed play to continue. But the referee never reviewed it." Yeah because it was freaking obvious the ball went backwards! Where was du Pont when it happened? He might better comment on the totally ridiculous yellow card for Etzebeth - the only thing 'yellow' about it was the cowardice of the TMO who obviously didn't want 70000 French supporters screaming their lungs out at him!

I have to say this, and obviously a very biased Rassie fan, but two things that amazed me that definitely had his imprint on them. First the crossfield up and unders from Manie (who had a fantastic game), which started from left field scrums just inside the French 10 metre line, where Reinach went blindside, turned, lobbed the ball back to him, he launched I think three times and the Boks scored (twice I think?) as a result while the defence was battling to get back across. Vintage Rassie - why didn't anyone else think of that? The second instance, where Willemse signaled for a scrum after his mark catch, they got a penalty, and it was a pity Libbok's (or Pollard's?) didn't quite get out, on the French 10 metre line. Prearranged obviously, and more Rassie genius. The third, maybe not Rassie's idea but certainly something he might have suggested, was Kolbe's chargedown of Ramos' conversion. I've never seen that in a professional game, and the fourth was Kolbe's drop goal attempt at the back of a tight scrum, where Faf moved aside to let have a go (and he wasn't far off either). Sheer brilliance.

An incredible game to watch. I'm not a rugby fundi, but it refs do err, and in this case, the errs seemed pretty even. When Etzebeth was yellow carded that seemed uncalled for. The French were superb and the crowd was intense. We can be proud of that game.

Yes... perhaps O'keefe should have penalised the French for being offside at the rucks and mauls, and oh, for being hit by the ball when Faf passed out the back of a ruck on their 5m line. How could that not have been a penalty? How. Yes Du Pont, perhaps the ref could have been better indeed!

... and for all the talking, Bok victory in this monumental game came down to a single act of resolve infrequently attempted & vanishingly rarely executed successfully: Kolbe's conversion charge down. A probable 2 points off the French slate.

Attack is the best form of defense. In those last minutes, the Boks were very close to giving away a penalty in my opinion. I had the feeling that Ben O’Keefe was just waiting for the slightest opportunity to blow the Boks up! I’ve always thought that what you want is a tough, .... .... ... high quality game, ... .... ....both teams giving it maximum skill and effort right down to the wire, .... .... ....and your team wins by a small margin. Go back and check the highlights. It’s plain as day. Penalty to the Boks, no first try, no 7-0 lead for the “Etzebeth knock-on/back”. There are so many examples like that. t is also not fair to all the players to single out specific incidents, although I am pretty certain that the Etsebeth slap back would have been yellow carded and penalty try awarded by most referees. In general, the French have been gracious in defeat. That is not easy, especially at home with huge expectations. Great game and it was ever so close! I just can’t wrap my head around Faf the gaffe – what was he thinking?? a big thank you to Ashwin Willemse for providing additional information .... ... ..

Stunning, awesome, terrific game. By everyone on the field. End of.

I thought it was a spectacle of great rugby, having millions on the edge of their chairs...or on them. However, the big question that needs to be asked concerning the fairness of the ref is this, "Do you want O'Keeffe for our next game....anywhere? I'd agree with the disgruntled Du Pont that he's not up to the standard. We don't want to be debating whether the ref was equally bad for both sides. He needs to be a GREAT ref who doesn't spoil the game for either side. The players and staff have sacrificed and trained exceptionally hard to get here. One cannot have a sub-standard ref spoil the game. I would chose Mathieu Raynal from my observation of his performance so far. Not perfect, but a higher standard.

Non Rugby fanatic opinion: Initially I felt like the ref may have missed a few things, but then it seemed as he was quite equally balanced towards each side, and encouraged play rather than a stop-start game. He was very clear and communicative giving players direction and forewarning to avoid having to stop play. In the end, I think he was excellent. Without taking a ball to the face the results could have been reversed quite easily. A heroic match by both sides.