VIDEO: What irked Los Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi so much that he ended the post-match press conference abruptly?
South Africa clinched the Rugby Championship title in emphatical style when they beat Argentina 48-7 in the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors struggled throughout and were completely overshadowed by an inspired Springbok side.
Up until the final round, the Los Pumas had been the most disciplined side in the competition and had not conceded any cards.
But on Saturday they were shown two yellow cards and a red.
First, it was wing Mateo Carreras who collided with Aphelele Fassi in the air in the 29th minute before Santiago Carreras slapped the ball down in the 68th minute.
The red was shown to Pablo Matera (upgraded on bunker review) for his nasty shoulder charge into the head of Bok prop Vincent Koch in a failed ruck clear-out.
Contepomi and Argentina’s captain Julian Montoya entered the auditorium for the post-match press conference at Mbombela Stadium first and faced questions from the reporters – the majority of whom were all South African.
After the fifth question, Contepomi was asked if he had approached the referee’s changeroom at half-time and made a scene. This was a message that had been relayed to the media.
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The Los Pumas coach lost his cool, saying he had not and would never approach a referee’s changeroom at half-time.
“I don’t know where you get it from, but it is a bad thing to say because I never go to the changeroom of a ref at half-time.
“So I am disappointed that you ask that question and I would like to know where you take it from.
“I know Ben O’Keefe [referee] very well and we chatted and I said we [will] send a review and he said ‘yes’ and that we are OK in terms of interchanging.
“I am surprised that you got the bad information. You need to be careful because you are a reporter, you need to check your information.
“Because that is a lie.
“Sorry, for me that is the last question.”
After that Contepomi and Montoya got up and left, but not after the coach again told the reporter that his information was wrong about what had transpired.
