Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit had a stunning try ruled out last weekend in Cardiff, during his side’s 20-9 victory over England. The Gloucester man executed a chip and chase over the England defenders, before grounding the ball in the in-goal area.
The try was initially awarded in the referee’s on-field decision, however a subsequent review with the TMO brought the play back, and cancelled out ‘Rees-Lightning’s’ phenomenal effort for a knock-on. Legendary Welsh referee Nigel Owens gave his official verdict on the decision, in World Rugby’s latest edition of ‘Whistle Watch’.
“We have Louis Rees-Zammit’s disallowed try, in Wales’ very good win in Cardiff against England. I’m sorry for saying that with a smile on my face. What we have here, we have the TMO first of all saying that it is a try.”
“Of course some people think it is a try. So when they look at it like this, they feel like it is a try, and then the try is awarded. But when they look at it again they can see, that the ball had actually been lost. So it means that Louis Rees-Zammit was not in control. So, this means now it’s a knock on.”
“So, if he was holding the ball, and he was in control of the ball, and put the ball down, the ball never leaves his hand and there’s no separation he’s always in control, therefore the try would have been awarded. If the ball was already on the ground, or bouncing in the air, and he puts his hand on the ball and takes the ball down to ground it, the try would have been awarded.”
“So what you see here, his hand touches the ball. He actually loses control of the ball before he touches it again. That means, that he’s lost the ball forward. Because if you lose control of the ball, unless you regather it, before it touches the ground or another player, then it becomes a knock-on. The referee was quite right, with the TMO then looking at it the second time, and not allowing the try.”