The Kiwi was far from impressed with referee Mathieu Raynal.
Ireland had to beat South Africa with 14 men for 60 minutes and 13 for a frantic, fraught 10 at Newlands Stadium today.
Coming into the three-Test series with the Springboks off the back of a third place finish in the Six Nations, and without a slew of senior stars, Ireland looked dead in the water when CJ Stander was red carded and Robbie Henshaw flashed yellow for a tackle in the lead-up to Lwazi Mvovo’s try.
13-10 down but not out. Ireland rallied superbly and finished 26-20 winners.
Post-match, Schmidt told Sky Sports that he had never been prouder of his players. He praised Jared Payne and Luke Marshall but stated that all 20 players had a part in the history-making win on South African soil [Ireland’s first].
Schmidt then turned his attentions to Raynal. He said:
“The nine minutes before half-time were incredibly special, the way the players dug in.
“I felt the yellow card was a very harsh decision, and Luke Marshall was blocked trying to get across [for their try].”
Schmidt later told reporters that Stander’s sending off was ‘very, very harsh’. A citing may soon follow for the Munster flanker but Ireland will fight it all the way.”
