Gregor Townsend has joined a chorus of Scots protesting against Scotland’s decision not to reward France for their match against France. For five agonizing minutes, Murrayfield watched a replay of Sam Skinner’s attempt to knock the ball down as time expired, while referee Nick Berry consulted the TV match official.
“It was obviously not the right decision for them to make in the end,” the Scotland coach said. “I think TMO has more influence on the referee. They have a big screen in that corner so it should be up to the referee to decide. They spent a lot of time looking at it and we could all see the ball had gone over the line. I Don’t think I’m biased. I think everyone sees that.”
Should Scotland be in this situation to begin with? They dominated the game, particularly in the first half, opening the scoring with a fine strike from Ben White and a confident contribution from debuting full-back Harry Paterson. . But they were only three points ahead before the break after failing to extend their lead before Gael Fecu responded on the half-hour mark and Unni Attonio was booked.
That gave a France side, who had been finding their rhythm, a more realistic goal, which they achieved with 10 minutes remaining through a brilliant individual strike from Louis Bielle-Biarrey. Tomas Ramos’ second penalty with less than five minutes remaining meant Scotland needed to try and win.
At that time, the referee believed that the ball was blocked, so he asked the TMO to provide definite evidence. What followed was an unbearably brutal suffering, even by Scottish standards.
During the five-minute interrogation, the verdict changed from “no try” to “no try.” There is footage showing the ball may have been grounded. Berry reconfirmed with TMO Brian MacNeice that he should change his on-field decision, but MacNeice believes there is still room for doubt. In the end, he found there wasn’t enough evidence to prove grounding.
If the referee’s first reaction was to call a penalty attempt, the outcome would be different because there is no conclusive evidence to rule neither. At such times, the seasons turn.
This isn’t the only controversy involving the use of technology. George Turner became the first player in the Six Nations to be withdrawn from a match for breaching the impact threshold (as measured by the mouthguards used by players in this tournament). He was withdrawn for a head impact assessment but did not look impressed.
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“It looked like a pretty normal tackle,” Townsend said. “The big ball carrier hit George, George made a big tackle, but George was taken off because of a mouthguard alert. We just have to be careful about what we’re doing here, the introductions can have an impact for the wrong reasons. technology, for example.”
He could have said it again. And it did.
