There were bizarre scenes at the conclusion of Stade Francais v Leicester in the Champions Cup on Sunday, as a second ball found its way onto the pitch.
The Pool D clash was a tense affair, with Leicester looking to add to their opening round win against the Stormers while Stade looked to get their first points of the pool stage on the board.
Leicester led at half-time thanks to two tries from Archie Vanes, and the hooker would go on to add a third in the second half to put Leicester in charge in Paris. A penalty from Jamie Shillock had the Tigers three points up in the closing stages, and they had to overcome an onslaught from the French side to see out the victory.
However, they ran into unexpected problems when a second ball found its way onto the pitch and into a maul as the clock ticked well past 80 minutes.
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Closing stages of Stade Francais v Leicester halted after second ball lands on pitch
With Leicester camped deep in their own 22 and attempting to see out the victory against Stade Francais on Sunday afternoon, patrons could be seen pitchside signalling upwards to people in the stands above them.
They appeared to be asking for a ball to be thrown back down from the crowd but, when the ball was indeed returned, the throw was overshot and it bounced right onto the field of play.
Two balls on the field at once 🧐
It was a unique situation in the final minutes at Stade Jean Bouin tonight!#InvestecChampionsCup | #SFPvLEI pic.twitter.com/SUxJsaZrX5— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) December 17, 2023
The second ball even found its way into the ongoing maul, and more than one Leicester player mistakenly tried to play the ball, thinking it was live on the pitch.
Ultimately, referee Nika Amashukeli would pause proceedings to remove the second ball from the field of play. The players were understandably confused, as they had seemingly not seen the second ball landing in the maul. Amashukeli acknowledged the situation was "unique" and said that the game could not be allowed to end in such a manner, awarding a scrum to Stade Francais.
The Leicester captain was unhappy that the scrum went against his team, pointing out that the ball had been thrown from Stade Francais fans. He also pointed out that Leicester had begun to gain control of the maul at the point the game had been halted, but Amashukeli insisted on giving the scrum the other way.
Several viewers were similarly displeased with the decision and accused Stade Francais of unsporting tactics.
Think the word you're looking for is cheating. Ball boy or fan has seen the maul pedal backwards and tried to get it reset
— Adam🦈🏉 (@ajsrugby) December 17, 2023
Looks like the three guys back right are signalling up to the crowd to get a ball back?? Then it gets thrown down and bounces onto the pitch…
Tigers physio looks pretty pissed off with what has gone on. https://t.co/gQ7Iqbgipr— Ian Price (@goatteeboy) December 17, 2023
‘Unique situation’ can also be written as ‘blatant cheating by the French’ #SFPvLEI https://t.co/gTridQzNhX
— Emma (@chesteremma_) December 17, 2023
Despite the scrum going against them, Leicester went on to secure a three-point victory to move into second place in Pool D.
Leinster are in the same pool as Leicester and Stade Francais, and the Irish side remain top after a ten-point win over Sale Sharks in Dublin on Saturday.
Stade Francais are rooted to the bottom of the pool - their losing bonus point from Sunday's game being their only points thus far in the group.
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