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Cape Town - On October 31, 2017 South Africa celebrated as World Rugby confirmed the country as its official recommendation to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
The game's governing body had an independent audit conducted, and the results scored South Africa higher than both France and Ireland.
READ: Did political unrest, crime cost SA World Cup?
With the World Rugby Council vote taking place on Wednesday, the recommendation was expected to guide the representatives from all over the globe and South Africa was expected to be awarded its first World Cup since 1995.
But the Council, clearly, did not pay too much attention to the official recommendation.
After Ireland had been eliminated from the voting process in the first round, France beat South Africa by 24 votes to 15 to leave Jurie Roux, Mark Alexander and the rest of South Africa shattered.
According to 1995 World Cup-winning Springbok Kobus Wiese, the recommendation process didn't make sense from the very beginning.
"It makes a mockery of that (the recommendation)," Wiese said.
"I thought it was a strange thing to do anyway because it says that the international body, in a way, favoured an international country.
"That's a bit stupid.
"It's a mockery ... they should not continue with that."
World Rugby president Bill Beaumont called this the "most transparent" bidding process ever, but South African Rugby will feel more blind-sided than anything else after having been effectively told they would be hosting the showpiece in six years time.
