New Zealand legend Israel Dagg has taken aim at Rugby World Cup referee Wayne Barnes after a red card was shown to the All Blacks’ captain Sam Cane early in Saturday’s final. South Africa went on to win the contest 12-11, clinching a record-breaking fourth title by the narrowest of margins.<\/p>\n
Barnes’ contentious call to put New Zealand at a numerical disadvantage came when Cane flew into a high tackle on Jesse Kriel. The Springboks consequently spent the final 53 minutes of the final playing against 14 men.<\/p>\n
The decision did not go down well in the All Blacks’ camp, with the more frequent use of cards in Test rugby causing concern. Dagg, who racked up 66 games for New Zealand between 2010 and 2017, laid into Barnes for his role in the drama.<\/p>\n
“I know I’m going to sound like a sore loser here, but this is our showpiece event, which has been overshadowed by a couple of people that are just taking the glory and the gloss away from the players,” he said.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> England ace Jamie George makes thoughts on sacking Steve Borthwick crystal clear<\/strong><\/p>\n “I\u2019m honestly just fed up. It is putting apprehension in the mind of our players and we’re seeing a snore-fest out there. How boring is that? You can see why people switch off the game.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s as boring as hell because you don\u2019t have the best players out there. There were some contentious moments but deal with it after the game. There was no malice in [Cane\u2019s tackle] and Jesse Kriel is fine.”<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/69\/590x\/secondary\/5038239.jpg?r=1698577208797\")
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