The Samoa captain Mahonri Schwalger has lashed out at inconsistent refereeing and Springbok acting after the Pacific Islanders suffered the first red card of the tournament and exited the World Cup after a hard-fought 13-5 loss to South Africa at North Harbour Stadium.
Samoa dominated possession and territory for long spells during the hard-fought match at North Harbour Stadium on Friday, while the Springboks ran up a 13-0 lead before Samoa adapted and took the game to their opponents.
Schwalger said Welsh referee Nigel Owens was pretty hard on Samoa and if a few calls had gone the other way they could have scored more points against the South Africans.
The Samoa captain believed the referree allowed the Springboks too much freedom, as the men in blue struggled to convert a host of possession and territory into points and were frustrated by what they described as illegal Springbok tactics at the breakdown.
Owens irked the Samoans further with his decision to send off fullback Paul Williams with 11 minutes remaining after he struck Springbok flanker Heinrich Brussow and a frustrated Schwalger says the referee and acting from Brussow cost his side dearly.
However, it was not just the Samoans who were unhappy with the refereeing.
Springbok replacement John Smit was shown a yellow card moments after Williams had departed for a deliberate knock on when attempting an intercept pass.
The hooker didn't help his case by then kicking the ball away to prevent the Samoans from restarting the game quickly.
The two cards came after a number of scuffles between the two sides with Schwalger involved in some pushing and shoving with Burger and Jannie du Plessis in the first half.
Springbok captain Victor Matfield said that he was disappointed that the incidents were not picked up by the officials and praised his players for keeping their cool.
The win means the Springboks become the first team to join the All Blacks in the quarter-finals.
