France captain in ugly ref swipe amid 'cruel' reality of World Cup exit

France captain Antoine Dupont has taken a swipe at referee Ben O'Keeffe after criticising the performance of the New Zealand whistleblower in the wake of his side's heartbreaking 29-28 defat to South Africa in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup. The French led late on against the Springboks but the experience and never-say-die attitude of the South Africans shone through with a converted try to Eben Etzebeth snatching the one-point win at the Stade de France.

The result was a bitter blow for France's new generation, who came into the tournament as one of the biggest favourites to claim their first World Cup trophy. Like World No.1 Ireland against the All Blacks the previous day, the French let a golden opportunity slip as the big-game experience of their opponents proved the difference.

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Dupont returned to the French side after fracturing his eye-socket in the third pool game against Namibia last month. The talismanic halfback put in a fine display but couldn't hide his anger about some of the refereeing decisions after the match, despite admitting he did not want to sound like a "bad loser".

"It's hard to talk about things at the moment but there were a few clear things that should have been blown that weren't blown," Dupont said. "I don't want to be a bad loser and complain about the refereeing, but I'm not sure it was up to the mark tonight.

"This doesn't take anything away from the South Africans, who beat us in the fight tonight, they played really well." France coach Fabien Galthie refused to follow his captain's lead by blaming the officials.

"I understand the players' frustrations, I really do, but I won't criticise the refereeing," he said. "We congratulate South Africa and hope they continue with success in the tournament. We have to be brave tonight as we have been for the last four years."

France shattered after 'cruel' defeat to Springboks

Les Bleus had only lost one game at home in their last 25 Tests before the showdown with the Springboks and expectations were sky high around France for a side many had tipped the win the World Cup. Shattered playmaker Matthieu Jalibert said the "cruel" reality for he and many of the French squad was the feeling they'd let down an entire nation.

"What makes us even sadder is that we weren't able to make them proud, to make them happy. For this group, it's a lot of disappointment," Jalibert said. "We're going to try to find something positive by saying that we have a lot of young players, a fine generation. But the reality is that today we failed to get out of the quarter-finals of a home World Cup.

"That's going to be hard to accept. It's cruel... We can find all the explanations we want, but it's over. It's the end of the adventure for us. It's a shame for this group, who deserved to go further - we'll never play another World Cup in France. It's tough to end like this."

France and South Africa traded three tries apiece in an astonishing first half of rugby. Bone-jarring tackles, blistering line defence and exquisite individual skills left the almost 80,000 fans packed into the national stadium in Paris on the edge of their seats.

Trailing 22-19 at halftime, the Springboks won a second-half tactical arm-wrestle thanks to their power and poise under pressure, to set up a semifinal showdown with England, who fought off a late Fiji fightback to prevail 30-24.

England captain Owen Farrell responded to being booed by his own fans before the match by kicking a late field goal and penalty to seal the victory for his side. The other semi-final will see the mighty All Blacks of New Zealand lock horns with surprise packets, Argentina.

with agencies

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