Two tries in Belfast

The match between Ireland and Italy had been a bitty affair, more interesting for the closeness of the score than the fluency of the play until those last two minutes or so when two tries were scored, both questioned.

Ireland were leading 16-13. The only scores in the half had been a penalty goal by Ronan O’Gara and then a drop goal.

Ireland, playing with the wind, were attacking and going right but under pressure, near the Italian 22, Peter Stringer shovelled the ball on to his right where Paul Griffin flykicked the ball downfield. Italian wing Matteo Pratichetti chased. Geordan Murphy of Ireland turns and chases. Kaine Robertson of Italy chases. Pratichetti gets to the ball first and, just inside the Irish half, foots ahead with his right foot. The ball veers off towards the left touch-line, Robertson outstrips Murphy as they race for the ball, Pratichetti slightly behind Murphy as they converge on the ball. Robertson gets a soccer-esque right foot to the ball as he falls and Murphy falls. Robertson’s right foot passes the ball infield. Pratichetti snatches the ball up and has an easy run to the posts. Roland de Marigny converts and Italy lead 20-16 with two minutes to play.

Was Murphy pushed?

It’s not easy. There are converging on the ball, Robertson a little ahead of Murphy, Murphy a little ahead of Pratichetti. Robertson goes down as he toes the ball. Murphy goes down, perhaps trying to fall on the ball. Pratichetti stays on his feet.

As they approach the ball. Pratichetti’s should seems to make contact with Murphy’s. Shoulder to shoulder in running for the ball, even aggressively, is all right.

Pratichetti’s left hand makes contact with Murphy’s back. Did he shove? Was it his shove that toppled Murphy?

Even with hindsight in slow motion it’s not all that easy to judge. It is much harder for the touch judge and the referee as they race to catch up and have no slow motion.

They did not guess and Italy got their try.

This was not a matter that is allowed by protocol to be referred to the television match official.

Ireland kick off, four points behind, two minutes to play. Italy get the ball and Alessandro hoofs it down onto Denis Leamy who hangs onto the ball and tackle/rucks ensure. Italy’s Ezio Galon is penalised for being off-side. Ireland tap and go,

Again tackle/rucks ensure. The referee is playing advantage when Fabio Ongaro plays the ball illegal when on the ground but Ireland go left. Centre Andrew Trimble, in a flyhalf position, shoves a pass through for Roman O’Gara on about the Italian 22?

Was the pass forward?

Not obvious and nobody guessed. This, too, protocol dictates may not be referred to the television match official.

O’Gara races for the line as Kaine Robertson cuts across at speed. As O’Gara gets near the line, Robertson tackles him, his right had an O’Gara’s chest, his left hand on O’Gara’s upper arm.

Robertson manages to turn O’Gara so that when they go to ground Robertson goes down back first and O’Gara goes down back first, O’Gara’s back roughly to Robertson’s front.

O’Gara’s head is up and facing downfield. His hands are up and facing downfield. The ball leaves his grasp and is going backwards. The ball ends up on the ground where O’Gara presses down on it with his right hand.

The referee asks the television match official for his opinion.

This takes some time but eventually the television match official gets the message through that the referee could award the try.

It was not a good day for communication at Ravenhill. The referee was unable to talk hear the television match official and, it seems, his touch judges .That was the worst of it. It had been the case in the first half with Troncon’s try and the matter, one supposes, could not be corrected. The time clock was not stopped but left as running time and there was no hooter/siren to signal the ends of halves.

The television match official watched the replays and took about three minutes to be able to tell the referee, via the touch judge, that he might award the try.

The television match official has come in for criticism from some for advising that the try might be awarded. Derek Bevan was the television match official – an man of impeccable credentials. After all no man has refereed as many Test matches as Bevan has and he is regularly used as a television match official in Tests, Heineken Cup matches and so on. One would have to be very sure before one dismissed a considered opinion of his.

Television match officials have a procedure, working back from the end of the incident. Bevan would first have checked to see if O’Gara had grounded the ball in his first going to ground. If he had, there would have been no need to go further. But he did not.

O’Gara had lost the ball. Did he lose it backwards or forwards? Last week the Test in Cardiff ended when Martin Durand of Argentina lost the ball as he went for the line in the last move of the match. On that occasion the TMO advised that there had been a knock-on. In our law discussion on the matter we speculated that a try was possible even if he had lost the ball provided that he had not lost it forward. If O’Gara had lost it forward there would have been no need for further examination.

In this case the ball clearly goes back off O’Gara’s hands. In that case the TMO could eliminate the knock on. If the ball then struck Robertson’s leg it was not going to make a knock-on. The ball had been knocked backwards. It could not become a knock forward.

Now Bevan had to examine the grounding off the ball – whether it was grounded and, if it was grounded, by whom. Then it becomes clear that it was O’Gara’s right hand that had grounded the ball.

1 GROUNDING THE BALL

There are two ways a player can ground the ball:

(a) Player touches the ground with the ball. A player grounds the ball by holding the ball and touching the ground with it, in in-goal. ‘Holding’ means holding in the hand or hands, or in the arm or arms. No downward pressure is required.

(b) Player presses down on the ball. A player grounds the ball when it is on the ground in the in-goal and the player presses down on it with a hand or hands, arm or arms, or the front of the player’s body from waist to neck inclusive.

In accordance with (b), O’Gara’s hand pressed down on the ball. That was why Bevan recommended that a try had been scored.

It may well have been a better decision to award this try than it was to deny Durand a try last week, for which there was no criticism!