by Our Sports Desk

New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen claimed yesterday that refereeing mistakes are a fact of life in rugby union.

Hansen’s comments follow the controversy that marred last Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Scotland.

World Rugby faced strong condemnation from all elements of the game for its admission that South African referee Craig Joubert blundered in awarding Australia their decisive penalty against Scotland.

Rugby union’s governing body received fierce criticism for publicly stating that Joubert should have awarded a scrum instead of a penalty in the nail-biting closing moments at Twickenham.

Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley kicked the three points to snatch a 35-34 victory which robbed Scotland of a place in the last four but the call for accidental offside was incorrect.

Joubert, who refereed the 2011 World Cup final when New Zealand beat France 8-7, will not be involved in this weekend’s semi-finals.

Hansen said: “The referees make mistakes. As long as they take a breath, they will make them, because players do and coaches do.

“So if you can accept that, the best way to avoid that mistake being the game-winning mistake, for want of a better term, is to make sure you are in front by enough for it not to be.

“Quite often, when a mistake is made and it’s right at the end of the game, it’s obvious for everyone to see and we get carried away with it.

“Sometimes they (referees) make mistakes at the beginning of the game that have a massive effect on the result, but no one sees them because they are not caught in the emotion of that last penalty goal or whatever it might have been.

“I’ve always said it is a really tough game to referee at the moment, and we’ve got to find ways of making it simpler for them to get that right.

“I know you are alluding to Joubert but I don’t think it’s Craig that is the problem but the system.”