Wales were left bemused by a critical decision in their dramatic 32-29 defeat to South Africa last weekend and have sought answers from World Rugby on the matter.
Louis Rees-Zammit was one of four Welsh players shown a yellow card by inexperienced referee Nika Amashukeli after he made a try-saving tackle on Willie Le Roux and appeared to make a textbook jackal over the ball deep in his own 22. But the Georgian official felt the speedster did not release the tackled player before going in on the ball and sent him to the naughty step.
Wales were leading by two points with eight minutes remaining at the time of the decision and a penalty try for the hosts came two minutes later, giving them the lead for the first time in the match.
Read next: Sign up to WalesOnline's rugby newsletter - and get the top stories straight to your inbox every day
Rees-Zammit joined Alun Wyn Jones in the sin bin, reducing Wales to 13 players and they would soon be joined by Rhys Carre. In the days after the match, Wales sought answers from World Rugby over a number of decisions made by the 27-year-old referee.
Wales boss Wayne Pivac said: "In reviewing the game, one of the plays of the match, which was Louis Rees-Zammit’s excellent cover tackle and then clear release and work over the ball to earn a penalty. They scored a try off that and we were down another player.
"I think that was the most unlucky play in the match. Clearly from our point of view we thought it was an excellent play. It was a big moment in the game. That was a little bit frustrating. We know there were areas in the game which we need to improve on in terms of our discipline but we felt also that there were some things which didn’t go our way."
Particularly in the second half, Wales' penalty count ballooned out of control and they ended up taking on the world champions with 12 men for a brief moment. Any side stretched to that degree is going to struggle to contain the Springboks and so it passed.
Flare-ups were taking place all over the pitch at one stage, with Mr Amashukeli seemingly overwhelmed by the occasion that saw 50,000 baying Springbok fans watching their heroes for the first time since they won the Rugby World Cup in 2019.
It was an incredibly hostile atmosphere and that put pressure on all involved.
When asked if Wales lost the referee, Pivac admitted: “Definitely, whether that was a combination of pressure because both sides were full on into each other, there was a lot of banter out there and people putting pressure on.
“That’s Test match rugby and for a young referee, that was a big ask. I think he would have learned a lot from that.
“Clearly, we have to manage with the officials a lot better and make sure we don’t give away 18 penalties in a Test match. Some of those phases were double advantages, so you’re probably looking at early 20s. You put yourself under so much pressure."
Pivac concluded: “The occasion, at the end... It just appeared that we were refereed and maybe South Africa got away with one or two side entries and bits and pieces. That added to the frustration and the yellow cards came, then it turned into a very difficult last 15 minutes.”
Wales have now travelled to Bloemfontein for the second Test, where they will take on a much-changed Springbok side, with head coach Jacques Nienaber making 14 changes to the starting XV.
Wales team news v South Africa as Alex Cuthbert ousts Josh Adams and Sam Wainwright to make debut
Young Wales captain 'would get into any U20s team in the world' as rousing speech caught on camera
Barry John's talented brother dies as tributes paid to 'club legend'
Nigel Owens says 'textbook' moment should never have been punished and Farrell gesture revealed
