The farcical nature of rugby's laws were laid bear on Friday morning when an obvious try that shouldn't have been awarded couldn't be checked.
Brumbies flyhalf Christian Lealiifano collected a pass from his centre James Dargaville before running the score in for a 20-10 scoreline just before half-time.
Except that the pass was quite clearly forward on review. But before the referee could check with the TMO - a quick thinking Lealiifano - clearly knowing that the pass was dodgy - decided to take a quick conversion:
Because of the way the laws are written - the TMO and referee can't check if a score is legitimate or not after a conversion is taken:
If, after a team in possession of the ball has touched the ball down in their opponents’ ingoal area (including after a try is awarded and before the conversion is struck), any of the match officials (including the TMO) have a view that there was a potential infringement, within the list of offences (see 2.3) before the ball was carried into in-goal by the team that touched the ball down, they may suggest that the referee refers the matter to the TMO for review.
The Brumbies ended up winning the game by eight points, with a try in the last ten minutes.
See Also: Bakkies Botha's Former Coach Gives Ultan Dillane The Ultimate Comparison
Calling all rugby fans - Get involved in our rugby facebook group https://t.co/TSPmyFy3D7 pic.twitter.com/EKst2fX7iI
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 15, 2016
