Former South Africa head coach Nick Mallett said he was "absolutely livid" with referee Ben O'Keeffe in the final moments of the Springboks' 13-8 Rugby World Cup defeat to Ireland.
Mallett and his fellow SuperSport analysts Victor Matfield and Lukhanyo Am felt South Africa should have been awarded penalties late in the game but instead the New Zealand official sided with Ireland.
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"I'm still fed up," said Mallett.
"We had four misses for the posts, that was 11 points. We had one lineout throw go askew 10 metres from their line for a driving maul.
"Then, quite frankly, a couple of decisions at the end of the game by Ben O'Keeffe, we didn't get the rub of the green."
23 September 2023; Ireland players celebrate at the final whistle of the 2023 Rugby World Cup Pool B match between South Africa and Ireland at Stade de France in Paris, France. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
In the final play of the game, South Africa had a driving maul off a lineout which ended with referee O'Keeffe blowing the full-time whistle after adjudging the ball was not coming out on the Springboks' side.
Matfield, who won 127 caps for South Africa, thought a penalty should have been awarded against Tadhg Beirne.
"It was well set," Matfield said about the maul.
"That number four (Tadhg Beirne) swinging around, being in that position. He actually stopped the ball from coming back to Deon (Fourie). That was definitely a penalty for us.
"And the ball is coming [out]. [Ben O'Keeffe] can see the ball. He must let that go. He must let us play there.
"I think [Tadhg Beirne] in the beginning was in the wrong position and that should have been a penalty to us."
Nick Mallett and Victor Matfield thought South Africa should have been awarded a penalty at the end of their Rugby World Cup clash with Ireland for an infringement by Tadhg Beirne.
Mallett added: "I was absolutely livid when I was watching this. I was also really irritated with the breakdown.
"There was a breakdown around five minutes before the end of the game and it was just a dog show and the ref allowed it to continue. There were Irish players on the wrong side of the ball and he just let it go.
"That was a penalty to us without any doubt at all. We just didn't get the calls at the end of the game."
Lukhanyo Am, who missed the tournament due to injury, said he didn't "want to blame the ref but we need more consistency".
"You can't touch the nine in an offside position," said Am about the breakdown to which Mallett referred.
"He just let it go. It was a crucial moment. It was a momentum swinger. We ended up under pressure in our 22 after that."
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