Antoine Dupont's 'clear and obvious' take on missed calls in France's quarter-final loss

France captain Antoine Dupont has questioned the standard of refereeing after France crashed out of their home World Cup with a heartbreaking single-point defeat to reigning champions South Africa in Paris.

The Springboks edged an epic contest at Stade de France 29-28 to set up a semi-final showdown with England.

Les Bleus captain Dupont suffered major disappointment on his highly-publicised return from a fractured cheekbone and felt substandard officiating was partly to blame.

Asked about the performance of New Zealand referee Ben O’Keefe, the scrum-half replied: “Well, what did you think from the outside?

“It’s hard to talk about things because there is a lot of disappointment, a lot of frustration. We want to see the images again – which will give us even more disappointment and even more frustration – but I think some clear and obvious things weren’t whistled.

“I don’t want to be a bad loser and moan about the refereeing but I’m not sure the level of refereeing was up the level of the game today.

“I don’t know if the match was lost at that point, but at crucial moments, we could have had a penalty. When you’ve gone forward 60 metres and you’re slowed down in the rucks, it’s pretty easy to whistle.

“That doesn’t take anything away from the South Africans’ great game, who got on top of us at the breakdown. They played a great game.”

A disconsolate Dupont was pictured with his hands on his head at full-time and was later in tears as he was embraced by his parents.

The 26-year-old was back in action just 24 days since sustaining the serious facial injury which threatened to prematurely end his tournament, donning a scrum-cap for added protection.

France flew out of the blocks and led 22-19 at the end of one of the most exhilarating opening 40 minutes in World Cup history in which the two teams shared six tries.

Eben Etzebeth returned from the sin-bin to help South Africa over the line with the only touchdown of a tighter second period, while Les Bleus were left to rue one of Thomas Ramos’ three conversion attempts being charged down by Cheslin Kolbe.

France head coach Fabien Galthie revealed prop Uini Atonio and lock Romain Taofifenua, the two oldest members of his squad, will retire and confirmed he intends to remain in his role.

French President Emmanuel Macron provided solace to his country’s players in the dressing room after the match.

“For four years we wrote a beautiful page of French history that the players can be proud of,” said Galthie.

“We can also be sad tonight because of the result.

“No regrets. You’re allowed to lose like we did today. We did everything to optimise our potential.”

Asked if there was a chance he may step down, the 54-year-old replied: “Well, no, I’ve got a contract to June 2028.”