The improbable penalty try

London Wasps camped on the Bristol line. It was an epic siege, ended only when a penalty try effected the breakthrough Wasps so eagerly sought.

The penalty try was an important decision, not that Wasps may not have scored without it.

The attack lasted some seven minutes, longer in fact, for the clock stopped for injuries. In that time there were five five-metre scrums which included four resets. Four times the scrum collapsed, the fourth time dramatically. Adding to the drama there was a free kick, then a penalty, then another penalty and then a penalty try.

Let us look at the sequence of events and then look at the Laws of the Game, bearing in mind that there are two components to a penalty try – foul play and the prevention by that foul play of a probable try. If either of those two components is missing there is no penalty try – foul play that stops a probable try.

1. Wasps attack and there is a tackle/ruck 5 metres from the Bristol line. Bristol win the ball, drive and then give to flyhalf Ed Barnes who kicks. The kick is charged down and Bristol carry it back into the in-goal area. Five-metre scrum to Wasps.

2. The scrum is set but collapses. There is a stoppage for an injury.

3. The Wasps heel. Their scrum seems to be under pressure but they clear the ball and play at close quarters, battering at the Bristol line. They go wide to the right where Tom Rees is stopped near the line. Haskell charges and is stopped. Five-metre scrum to Wasps. There is a break for injury.

4. Wasps feed the scrum and they shove forward at considerable speed. The scrum collapses and is reset. Five-metre scrum to Wasps.

5. Wasps feed the scrum and are shoved back., The scrum collapses. It is reset. Five-metre scrum to Wasps.

6. The scrum whirls about and the referee awards a free kick to Wasps. They opt for a scrum,. Five-metre scrum to Wasps.

7. Wasps feed the scrum which immediately collapses. The referee awards a penalty to Wasps. They opt for a scrum. Five-metre scrum to Wasps.

8. Wasps feed the scrum which whirls about. The referee stops the whirling and awards a scrum to Wasps. Matt Salter, the Bristol captain, has something to say and the referee penalises him for dissent.

9. Eoin Reddan, the Wasps captain, taps and darts at the line. He is centimetres short. The referee consults the TMO who advises against a try. The referee awards a scrum to Wasps. Five-metre scrum to Wasps.

10. The scrum whirls about and is reset.

11. Reddan has the ball to put it in but the scrum immediately falls to the ground. The referee backpedals to award a penalty try, saying: “Straight down.”

Law 10.2 UNFAIR PLAY

(a) Intentionally Offending. A player must not intentionally infringe any Law of the Game, or play unfairly. The player who intentionally offends must be either admonished, or cautioned that a send off will result if the offence or similar offence is committed, or sent off. After a caution a player is temporarily suspended from the match for a period of ten minutes playing time. After a caution, if the player commits the same or similar offence, the player must be sent off.
Penalty: Penalty Kick

A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored. A player who prevents a try being scored through foul play must either be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off.

There it is – an intentional offence that prevents a try that would probably have been scored.

If you look at 4. above in the list of events, a penalty try could have made sense there as Wasps had the ball and were shoving at the Bristol line, but in that case the referee was not aware of any offence, let alone an intentional one.

In the case of 11. above he was aware of an intentional offence but the second element was missing. The ball was still tucked under Reddan’s armpit. It was dead. It was not in play. It could not be used to score a try – possible or probable – until it had been brought into play.

There is the rub.

What about repeated infringements? Bristol had already been penalised for collapsing a scrum.

Law 10.3 REPEATED INFRINGEMENTS

(a) Repeatedly offending. A player must not repeatedly infringe any Law. Repeated infringement is a matter of fact. The question of whether or not the player intended to infringe is irrelevant.
Penalty: Penalty Kick

A player penalised for repeated infringements must be cautioned and temporarily suspended. If that player then commits a further cautionable offence, or the same offence,

(b) (b) Repeated infringements by the team. When different players of the same team repeatedly commit the same offence, the referee must decide whether or not this amounts to repeated infringement. If it does, the referee gives a general warning to the team and if they then repeat the offence, the referee cautions and temporarily suspends the guilty player(s) for a period of 10 minutes playing time. If a player of that same team then repeats the offence the referee sends off the guilty player(s).
Penalty: Penalty Kick

A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored.

In this case would a try have probably been scored? There was no evidence to suggest it as the ball was still in Reddan’s possession, a dead ball. A five-metre scrum does not mean a probable try. In fact the evidence of the match suggests the contrary. After all there had been four five-metre scrums in a short period of time and not one had produced a try.

That the referee said “Straight down” is significant. Wasps were not moving forward with the ball. They were not on the way to scoring a try. The ball was not in play.

A penalty try is not for a repeated infringement. For a repeated infringement there are sanctions such as penalties and exclusion from the field.

This is the second such penalty try in two weeks. In the Heineken Cup match there was a penalty try awarded against Edinburgh for tackling Brian O’Driscoll with out the ball. In neither case was a yellow card used. But the law says: A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored. A player who prevents a try being scored through foul play must either be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off.

The penalty try is contained in Law 10 which deals with foul play. Presumably both of the penalty tries we have mentioned were the result of foul play. In neither case was there a suspension of any kind.