Warren Gatland felt the change in referee knocked Wales off their stride as they crashed out of the World Cup with a 29-17 quarter-final defeat to Argentina in Marseille.
South African official Jaco Peyper hobbled off with a calf injury after Wales had scored their first try in the 15th minute, taking a 7-0 lead in a match they had dominated.
But with Karl Dickson replacing Peyper their ascendency slipped away and Argentina came on strong in the second half with tries from Joel Sclavi and Nicolas Sanchez sweeping them into the last four.
Head coach Gatland was full of praise for the Pumas’ performance but also felt events had conspired against Wales.
“It probably didn’t help with the referee getting injured. That was a little bit disruptive in terms of the game,” said Gatland, who confirmed his commitment to remaining in charge of Wales until the 2027 World Cup.
“We were 10-0 up and were thinking that if we take a few of the opportunities that were presented to us. Unfortunately we gave away a couple of soft penalties.
“It does throw you off. We were comfortable with Jaco Peyper and the relationship we have with him in terms of his control of the game.
“It’s nothing against Karl but you do a lot of analysis through what referees tend to be tough on and what they are looking for.
“We hadn’t prepared for the change. Sometimes that happens in a game and you just have to deal with it. That is the way Test match rugby goes sometimes.”
A controversial refereeing decision saw Guido Petti hit Nick Tompkins in the head with his shoulder in the third quarter but Dickson and TMO Marius Jonker ruled there was no foul play.
It was explained that because the tackle had been called, Tompkins was falling and Petti entered legally while bent at the waist, there was no offence. Argentina went over from the same period of play to stretch their lead.
“It would be interesting to see what happens in terms of the feedback from the panel,” Gatland said.
“He (Dickson) felt that Nick has dropped his height and he said it wasn’t foul play. I would need to go back and look at it, but it was probably at least a penalty situation.
“Sometimes those things happen in a game in big moments and can swing things. That is just the way it is.”
Dan Biggar’s final match for Wales ended in disappointment with the fly-half eventually departing in the second half having taken a bang to the chest early on, possibly exacerbating a pectoral muscle injury he had been carrying.
“Dan has been a great servant for Welsh rugby. He has been through some incredible highs and some lows as well. To see him come into the side and mature and develop as a player, that has been pretty special,” Gatland said.
Argentina were transformed from the team routed 27-10 by 14-man England in their group opener and head coach Michael Cheika insisted the lessons of that defeat had been learned.
“We knew that first game would be rough for us and we learned a lot from it because we had a lot of World Cup first timers,” Cheika said.
“There hasn’t been a radical turnaround, we’ve just built from what we’ve learned. The progress hasn’t been lineal, but all that work we put in as a foundation has paid off.
“We’re starting to get a bit of flow and one thing this team has always had is lots of flow. We just didn’t handle the occasion against England well.”
All Blacks captain Cane to retire from international rugby
New Zealand captain Sam Cane has announced he will retire from international rugby at the end of 2024, having agreed a three-year contract with Japan Rugby League One team Tokyo Sungoliath.
Cane made his All Blacks debut in 2012 and has represented his country 95 times, including through the team's triumphant run at the 2015 World Cup.
The flanker succeeded Kieran Read as captain in 2020, though his most recent international outing ended with him suffering the ignominy of becoming the first man to be sent off in a Rugby World Cup final, as New Zealand were beaten by South Africa last year.
Cane will be eligible to represent the All Blacks through the second half of 2024 after returning from an initial spell in Japan but will then head there permanently after New Zealand Rugby agreed to release him from his contract.
"A good opportunity came my way with Sungoliath willing to offer me a three-year contract," Cane said. "I had to weigh up everything and, in the end, with a young family it seemed like the best decision to help set us up for our future.
"I had my time as captain and it was a huge honour and privilege. If I'm fortunate enough to be selected for the All Blacks this year then I'll still be myself.
"I love that team, and if part of my role is contributing leadership-wise, I'll be happy to support the new captain as best I can to help with a speedy transition."
Seales takes second five-wicket haul in a row for Sussex; Holder smashes 123* for Worcestershire
Jayden Seales continued his excellent form so far for Sussex CCC in this season’s County Championship Division Two with another five-wicket haul, this time against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
Seales has, so far, taken 5-101 in 23 overs as Glamorgan have advanced to 411-9 off 102 overs, replying to Sussex’s 278 all out off 87.2 overs on day one.
Glamorgan’s batting effort was led by excellent centuries from Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson.
Ingram led the way with a 248-ball 170 including 23 fours and three sixes while Carlson made 148 off 217 balls and hit 21 fours in the process.
Seales and Sussex will enter day three on Sunday trailing Glamorgan by 133 runs looking to dismiss them as quickly as possible.
Full scores:
Sussex 278 off 87.2 overs (Fynn Hudson-Prentice 48, Cheteshwar Pujara 41, Jack Carson 39, Aristides Karvelas 39, Mir Hamza 4-70, James Harris 4-93)
Glamorgan 411-9 off 102 overs (Colin Ingram 170, Kiran Carlson 148, Jayden Seales 5-101)
Elsewhere, Jason Holder was one of three Worcestershire batsmen to make centuries as they piled up a massive 618-7 declared in their first innings against Kent on day two at the St. Lawrence Ground in Canterbury.
Holder made a brilliant 123* off just 110 balls including seven fours and three sixes while Gareth Roderick and Matthew Waite both also reached three figures with 117 and 100*, respectively.
Adam Hose fell just ten runs short of a century himself.
Joey Evison and Matt Parkinson each ended with three wicket-hauls for Kent.
In reply, Kent reached 111-2 at stumps with Captain Daniel Bell-Drummond (54*0 and Jack Leaning (43*) at the crease.
Joe Leach has taken both wickets to fall so far.
Full scores:
Worcestershire 617-8 dec. off 158.5 overs (Jason Holder 123*, Gareth Roderick 117, Matthew Waite 100*, Adam Hose 90, Joey Evison 3-58, Matt Parkinson 3-201)
Kent 111-2 off 33 overs (Daniel Bell-Drummond 54*, Jack Leaning 43*, Joe Leach 2-12)
Leverkusen reach Europa League final and stretch unbeaten run with late show
Bayer Leverkusen reached the Europa League final and stretched their remarkable unbeaten run to 49 games on Thursday, Josip Stanisic scoring seven minutes into stoppage time in a dramatic 2-2 draw with Roma.
Having won last week's first leg 2-0 in Italy, Leverkusen were strong favourites to advance to this month's final in Dublin, though two Leandro Paredes penalties left them facing up to the prospect of extra time.
Paredes halved Leverkusen's aggregate lead on the stroke of half-time after Jonathan Tah fouled Sardar Azmoun, then repeated the trick following a bizarre handball from Adam Hlozek shortly after the hour mark.
However, Roma's hearts were broken as goalkeeper Mile Svilar – who was otherwise outstanding – failed to claim a routine corner and it bounced in off the unfortunate Gianluca Mancini with eight minutes of the 90 remaining.
Rather than sitting back at 2-1 up in the tie, Leverkusen chased a leveller in order to preserve their unbeaten record across all competitions this season.
It was yet another last-gasp effort that kept that record intact, with Stanisic firing into the bottom-left corner after being played through by Granit Xhaka.
Xabi Alonso's team are now unbeaten in 49 games in all competitions, breaking Benfica's previous European top-tier record of 48 matches, set between 1963 and 1965.
Leverkusen will face another Italian side in the showpiece game, after Atalanta crushed Marseille 3-0 in Bergamo to seal a 4-1 aggregate win in the other semi-final.
In-form striker Gianluca Scamacca had already rattled the crossbar when La Dea took the lead, with Ademola Lookman's strike deflecting in off the unfortunate Samuel Gigot.
Lookman then turned provider as Atalanta stretched their advantage seven minutes after the break, teeing up Matteo Ruggeri for a rasping finish into the top-right corner.
Gian Piero Gasperini's men were able to add some gloss to the scoreline at the death, with El Bilal Toure's pinpoint finish giving Pau Lopez no chance to round off a dominant win.
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