Michael Cheika was less than pleased with the performance of the man in the middle. Photo: Getty Images/Sean Botterill
Argentina coach Michael Cheika criticized the refereeing for Angus Gardner's breakdown in the first half of his side's heavy semi-final defeat to New Zealand.
Argentina have repeatedly faced problems around the ruck, being knocked off their feet and take players out from under the ball and become increasingly frustrated that some of New Zealand's offenses go unpunished.
“I didn’t really like the refereeing in the first half, especially at the rucks,” Cheika said afterwards. “I think that's [Gardner's] way of doing things. Every time we were 22, we faced the same problem.
“We need to accept this and we will do better next time. After more than 20 years, I've learned that whether I'm happy or not doesn't change anything. But it is obvious to me that I was not satisfied with the judging in rucks.”
Breakdown issues aside, Argentina suffered defeat in their third Rugby World Cup semi-final as the All Blacks thrashed Los Pumas 44-6 to reach their fifth final.
Angus Gardner under fire as Pumas lose to All Blacks Photo: Getty Images/Adam Pretty
Cheika and Argentina captain Julian Montoya both insisted on the fact that the team will do everything to win the final match for bronze next Friday against England or South Africa.
“I’m sad for the players, they put in such effort. They wanted the victory so badly for the fans here in France and Argentina. It’s hard,” Cheika added. “We will be there on Friday, no doubt about it. We need this game on Friday. We can't leave this way. We will learn from this, come back and become stronger.”
Ian Foster, New Zealand's head coach, meanwhile reflected on reaching the World Cup final 18 months after coming close to being sacked following the All Blacks' historic series defeat at home to Ireland and a 26-10 loss to South Africa.
“I am part of the group and I am proud of this coaching group. They work hard, communicate with the players and there is a good synergy,” Foster said. “There is no personal agenda here, this is about the All Blacks. This doesn’t change, the team comes first.”
The coach added: “I'll watch [the semi-final] probably with some popcorn and I don't care who wins. SA are playing brilliantly and England are starting to believe in their game. It will be interesting to see how things go.”
Sam Cane, the All Blacks captain, also expressed his satisfaction with the New Zealand team and the patience of the whole team with Argentina.
“We know that this a team that can disappoint, that continues to struggle. We wanted to be patient and a lot of the credit for that goes to the strikers. We wanted to fight well and ride well.»