Blues coach Sir John Kirwan is seeking clarification from the Super Rugby refereeing panel on a controversial penalty try which was awarded in his team's win over the Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Auckland-based franchise conceded the penalty try and had wing Frank Halai sin-binned in the 54th minute of their 34-20 win in Wellington, after it was ruled that he had deliberately knocked the ball dead in the in-goal area, in a desperate bid to avoid Hurricanes flyer Julian Savea from scoring a try.
Match referee Glen Jackson implemented the ruling of television match offical Vinny Munro which gave the Hurricanes a 20-16 lead.
Kirwan described the decision as harsh, as he did not believe Halai's actions prevented a certain try, and revealed that he contacted Sanzar referees boss Lyndon Bray about the incident.
"That's just to get a better understanding," he told Fairfax Media.
"The letter of the law is, yeah, that's the rule. Could you say it was going to be a try?
"My opinion would be, no. Their opinion would be, yes. At the end of the day I thought it was a harsh call."
Kirwan said it was also a chance for him to check other areas with Bray.
"Nothing major, just to make sure we are training the boys the right way and we're aware of the trends that the refs are looking at."
Comments
markpat says...
@KingShark - just out of interest, what qualifications have you got for referreeing? Personally, I have none, but I'm more inclined to accept the TMO does have and that he has also been given the IRB's directives on TMO adjudication. Not saying he is correct, just that his explanation of his decision was not countered by the referee, meaning that both accepted the reasoning that he applied, as he didn't simply state "yellow card, penalty try" is more convincing than fans giving their own, often uninformed, opinions.
Posted 18:08 26th February 2013
Trinats2 says...
Kiwirwan having a whinge....NO !
Posted 21:09 25th February 2013
three6three6 says...
It is hard to see that in this case a try would probably have been scored. Then it seems that the right decision would have been a penalty, five metres from the Blues' goal-line and 15 metres in from touch.
Could Halai still have been sent to the sin bin? Yes. But the case for sending him to the sin bin would have been much weaker without the penalty try. In fact the referee has the option of three courses of action - a ticking off, a yellow card or a red card.
Of course, it is easy away from the heat of battle to make decisions of this kind. The worry is that - if in fact we are right and the TMO was wrong - that the TMO has the facility of time and replay to come to his decision. This decision was taken very quickly.
Posted 17:21 25th February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
I missed Sir John Kirwin getting knighted. Congratulations.
Posted 14:05 25th February 2013
dafyddg84 says...
the law states that a PT is awarded where, by virtue of a penalisable act, a try would PROBABLY (i.e. 'more likely than not'... >50%, but not as high as "certain") have been scored - I haven't seen the action but from the description there's a reasonable chance. and where the referee (or TMO) identifies a player who commits a penalisable act preventinf a probable try, in addition to the PT, he should also caution (i.e. YC) the player
Posted 13:31 25th February 2013
KingShark says...
@markpat, the player shouldn't be removed from the equation. The act of foul play should, in which case Halai might still have been in the way and thus have prevented the scoring.
Posted 12:59 25th February 2013
passtheball says...
It could also be that Savea had offended before the dive for the ball by trying to knock Halai off the ball illegally. Its also not 100% sure that he deliberately tried to knock the ball dead. I think P try and yellow card decision fired up the Blues so in the end no harm done.
Posted 12:41 25th February 2013
markpat says...
I disagree, personally. I thought you could see him bat the ball, not try to ground it. That is a a penalty.
If you listened to the TMO's response, it was "If you remove that player from the situation, the try would have been scored. Therefore, yellow card and penalty try."
Essentially, he's saying that by cheating, the player is completely removed from the scenario. If that is the case, are you suggesting Savea wouldn't have scored if Halai hadn't been there?
Personally, I would have expected the yellow card and a penalty, but, assuming the TMO knows the rules better than me, his explanation certainly justifies the penalty try as well.
Posted 11:56 25th February 2013
daibok says...
Savea wouldnt have scored. The ball could only go backwards whoever touched it. This was a really poor decision for both the P Try and Yellow. Kirwan has every right to question it.
Posted 10:27 25th February 2013