Nigel Owens has given his word on the debate over France's first try after a new overhead angle of Antoine Dupont's try for France during their 30-24 win over Ireland in the Six Nations caused a stir on Twitter.
The video was posted by the Guinness Six Nations twitter account of Dupont's try from the first minute of Saturday's match from a bird's eye view. The debate is over the final pass from centre Yoram Moefana to Antoine Dupont. Many people believe the pass goes forward as it leaves Moefana's hands. Have a look at it for yourself.
The angle we've all been waiting for 🤩#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/8jtjdiSDSt
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 14, 2022
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The replay has sparked a big debate on social media in the past 24 hours. To the naked eye, Moefana's pass does appear to travel forward but the rules around a forward pass are not as cut and dry as some think.
It is not forward. What you are seeing is parallax error. You can check it relative to the 22, and it tracks parallel to the 22 all the way from hand to hands - which means it’s flat, not forward.
— Tim O'Connor (@timoconnorbl) February 15, 2022
Interestingly Nigel Owens weighed in with a couple of points which may go in favour of Ireland but it's ultimately a very close one to call.
No one looking for excuses @John_Twohig the angle was unseen by most. No judgement required or made. Thoughts of International referee @Nigelrefowens shared https://t.co/fhk2QWgw0I pic.twitter.com/vT3esEicME
— Michael Corcoran (@MichaelC_RTE) February 15, 2022
I didn’t say but was an error I said it’s a tight call and that and that angle shows it’s gone forward from the passer. But you base out clear and obvious and if it’s not then play on
— Nigel Owens MBE (@Nigelrefowens) February 15, 2022
The forward pass rule is actually more complicated to explain than you would think. It's not as clear cut as it sounds and World Rugby have posted a video on the rule.
Not only are people questioning the forward pass, they are also questioning the ruck before that phase when Andrew Porter got over the ball and was cleared out by Anthony Jelonch. It's clear from the replay that Jelonch didn't wrap his arms when hitting Porter and that Porter could've been awarded a penalty for his jackal as well. Refereeing around the rucks does tend to vary from ref to ref as some like to award the attack more often and some prefer to award the defence so this is a harder incident to debate.
I’m amazed that nobody picked up the shoulder (no arm) clear out of Porter at the previous ruck! French TV even replays it so TMO had plenty of time to step in.
— Cathal O'Leary (@cacks23) February 15, 2022
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