Law discussion: Springboks’ controversial Bongi Mbonambi try was the correct decision, here’s why

Jared Wright
Springboks hooker Bongi Mbonambi'

Bongi Mbonambi's try against the All Blacks has been the subject of much debate,

Bongi Mbonambi’s try against the All Blacks has been the subject of much controversy after the Springboks hooker appeared to have knocked on the ball before grounding it.

To the dismay of New Zealand fans and the All Blacks players, Andrew Brace and his officiating team judged that there was no reason to disallow the try that has been hotly debated in the days that have followed the Test match.

Even All Blacks boss Scott Robertson was left bemused by the decision, although he managed to remain tight-lipped enough to not get sanctioned for criticism of the officials.

But was the decision to allow the try to stand the correct one? Planet Rugby takes a closer look.

Bongi Mbonambi’s try against the All Blacks

After the All Blacks scored a controversial try of their own through their hooker Codie Taylor following the yellow card to Aphelele Fassi, the Springboks looked for a quick response and were given access to the opposition’s 22 following successive penalties against Robertson’s men.

The last of which was against Ardie Savea near his own try-line where he failed to show a clear release for Brace who awarded the penalty to South Africa.

The Boks opted for the kick to touch with fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu setting up the lineout five metres out from the All Blacks line.

New Zealand defended the maul set from the resulting lineout before Mbonambi broke off the back and charged towards the line. The front-rower brushed off the first attempted tackle from Will Jordan before lunging towards the line with Tamaiti Williams and Jordie Barrett attempting to stop him.

Like he did multiple times during the World Cup and in the past for the All Blacks, Barrett attempts to make a passive tackle and hold up the ball carrier over the line but in doing so his hand makes contact with the ball knocking it out of the Mbonambi’s grasp.

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While it can understandably be seen by many that the Bok hooker is the one who knocks the ball on in this case, it is in fact Barrett who does.

Law 11.2 states: It is a knock-on when a player, in tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent, makes contact with the ball and the ball goes forward.

Effectively, the ball has gone backwards out of the Bok hooker’s hands but forwards out of Barrett’s.

There is an argument that Mbonambi is ‘not in control of the ball’ when he grounds it but that is not a factor as per World Rugby’s laws around grounding the ball.

The laws read: The ball can be grounded in in-goal: a. By holding it and touching the ground with it; or b. By pressing down on it with a hand or hands, arm or arms, or the front of the player’s body from waist to neck.

So in this case, Brace and his officiating team reached the correct decision despite how unpopular it may seem.

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Speeding up the game

What has also frustrated fans and pundits alike was the lack of an official review from the referee and his officiating team. However, they were simply following the protocol and guidelines set out by World Rugby and SANZAAR.

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In an attempt to speed up the game, a World Rugby Law Application read: “Match officials are reminded that the TMO process is for identifying and ensuring Clear and Obvious offences are dealt with on-field. The match official teams, led by the referee, should attempt to make speedier decisions and limit replays where not necessary.”

In this case, it is fair to assume that TMO Brian MacNeice reviewed the decision – hence the replays – and deemed that Brace had made the correct call on field. Therefore, there was no need for the game to stop and cause a delay in proceedings.

Planet Rugby reached out to a current elite professional match official to ensure that the technicalities and law interpretations expressed in this article were accurate and fair – which they did.

READ MORE: Springboks apologise for ‘highly regrettable’ All Blacks’ Haka interference

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