Refereeing in crucial Belgium-Spain rugby clash under investigation

The performance of the Romanian referee who oversaw the clash between Belgium and Spain in Brussels on Sunday will be analysed today, Friday, by Rugby Europe, it was announced on Monday.

Spain, who needed a win to qualify for the Rugby World Cup, lost the game 18-10 - a result which directly gifted qualification to Romania.

Following the game, the Spanish players complained of deliberate bias on the part of referee Vlad Iordachescu. Our play was continually disrupted, said Spain coach Santiago Santos.

Iordachescu had to be escorted off the field of play after the final whistle as the Spanish players rushed to confront him.

The Spanish Rugby Federation (FER) condemned the aggressive behaviour of some players, but announced that it would be putting forward a formal complaint to both Rugby Europe and World Rugby, the World Cup organisers, so that they can look back at the tapes of the game and assess whether the officiating had deliberately favoured Romania and act accordingly.

The FER also explained that on 19 February they had called for the officials to be changed - a request that was rejected.

On the day, Spain trailed by 15 to 0 before launching a comeback of sorts, halted by constant breaks in play.

Spain's World Cup hopes are not over yet, but they have made it a lot more difficult for themselves with defeat in Belgium.