Retired Irish referee explains why Pierre Brousset was WRONG not to award Leinster a last-gasp penalty try
Referee Pierre Brousset brandishes the yellow card in Dublin last Saturday
Retired Test-level referee Owen Doyle has insisted that Leinster should have been awarded a game-winning penalty try in the final minute of their Champions Cup semi-final.
With the clock stopped on 79 minutes in Dublin last Saturday, French referee Pierre Brousset concluded that Northampton’s Alex Coles should be yellow carded and that the ‘try’ by Ross Byrne after he dived on the resulting loose ball while off his feet should not be allowed.
However, rather than award Leinster a penalty try for the way Coles had illegally impeded the ball-carrying Josh van der Flier, Brousset instead opted to only award a penalty – and this wasn’t enough to rescue the Irish side from their 34-37 loss.
Writing in his weekly Irish Times refereeing column, Doyle explained: “Let’s clear a couple of things up. If the ball hits the corner flag/post it is not out of play − it used to be aeons ago, but not anymore.
“Secondly, Ross Byrne’s ‘touch down’ could not be considered as he was off his feet. And lastly, while penalty tries are normally accompanied by a yellow card, not all yellows are penalty tries.”
“It is expressly forbidden…”
Doyle then went into detail about Coles ‘tackle’ on Van der Flier, outlining why a result-changing penalty try should have been the decision reached by Brousset. “Van der Flier was bowled over short of the line, it was within reaching distance,” he said.
“Brousset penalised and carded Northampton’s Alex Coles for not releasing the Leinster man, so he must have deemed Coles as a tackler, which is one thing he certainly was not. But, crucially, he did not award a penalty try. I believe that he should have, here’s my reasoning.
“What mattered here occurred when Coles went to ground onto van der Flier. That is specifically and sensibly covered in the law bible. It outlaws an opponent from falling on a ball carrier who is on the ground. It is expressly forbidden. Otherwise, van der Flier could very probably have reached out and scored.
“Probability is the key factor for awarding a penalty try, and that would have been the correct call. If Brousset had started at the beginning as he considered the events, who knows, he might well have come up with the right answer.”
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