‘He didn’t seem confident’ – Finn Russell states his arm ‘was definitely under’ Tommy Freeman in England defeat
Finn Russell has given his take on Tommy Freeman's ghost try.
Scotland co-captain Finn Russell is confident that he got under Tommy Freeman for the controversial England try in the Six Nations clash at the Allianz Stadiuz, Twickenham.
Freeman dotted down in the eighth minute of the tense Calcutta Cup clash with Marcus Smith converting the ensuing conversion to give England a two-point lead.
However, there has been much debate over the validity of the England winger’s try as he looked to have been held up by Russell with multiple Scotland players assisting the fly-half with the tackle.
Finn Russell on Tommy Freeman’s ghost try
Referee Pierre Brousset awarded the try as he believed that he had seen a grounding of the ball over the try-line but subsequent replays during the broadcast did not show any evidence of that being the case.
The French official confidently made the decision with Smith converting the try. Before Russell took the restart, TMO Tual Trainini raised some doubts about the grounding and notified Brousset.
However, Trainini had a change of heart before an official review was undertaken with the broadcasting commentators – who have access to the comms between the officials – stating that he ‘is now happy that the try was scored’.
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Speaking on the Kick Offs and Kick Ons podcast, Russell said that he was confident that he had got his arm underneath the ball as Freeman attempted to dot down for the try and said as much to the referee.
“Let’s face it Tommy Freeman didn’t put the ball down because there was a young Finn Russell underneath him,” the show’s host, James Rochford said.
“You felt that right, he didn’t put the ball down, did he?”
Russell replied: “Yeah, I did say that to the ref, I said ‘My arm is definitely under that, you’ve got to check that’.
“He said that he checked it so you kind of have to take their word for it, I suppose. There have been a few clips watching back over it and I don’t know if he got it there or not.”
Freeman wasn’t confident
The Scotsman also pointed to the fact that Freeman was not overly confident about getting the ball down when he was asked about the decision after the match.
“Tommy didn’t seem that confident about it after the game either,” he added.
The England winger was rather coy when he addressed the try after the match: “The referee said I got it down, so he must have seen it on the ground. I felt like it went on the ground.”
Scotland now turn their attention to their round three fixture against Wales in the Six Nations after the rest week with Gregor Townsend’s men heading to Cardiff before completing their campaign in Paris against France on Super Saturday.
READ MORE: Revealed: Why Finn Russell’s missed match-winner was taken from a more difficult angle
