There are always moments in matches which prove to be the turning point, be that a moment of madness, a refereeing decision or in this case, a try. But we’re not talking about clear-cut scores. Here are some of the most dubious efforts from over the years.
We know that referees and especially TMOs have a stressful job in determining if a try has been scored or not, and sometimes, they get things wrong.
These decisions can have pretty big ramifications, like in the 2007 Rugby World Cup when Yannick Jauzion’s try from a forward pass from centre partner Damien Traille to Fred Michalak helped France narrowly defeat New Zealand 20-18 to dump the Kiwis out in the quarter-finals.
The All Blacks got some payback, although not in the World Cup, when John Lacey blatantly impeded French scrum-half Baptiste Serin close to the line many years later, allowing Damian McKenzie to saunter in for a try while the scores had been level.
Current Ireland international CJ Stander was not the only one to be utterly dumbfounded when he and his team-mates Odwa Ndungane and Morné Steyn practically stood still as a clear knock-off was deemed to have gone backwards by the referee. Play continued and Stander scored a bizarre try.
Other controversial moments include Ronan O’Gara’s try against the Springboks in 2004, Mike Phillips’ quick throw-in with a different ball, as well as a totally outrageous piece of refereeing again playing into the hands of the French, against…you guessed right, the All Blacks.
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