England outside half George Ford was denied taking a conversion against Wales with fans left baffled by the referee’s ruling. Trailing 7-5, Ford seemingly had the simple task of levelling the clash when Wales winger Rio Dyer ran out and kicked the ball away from him.
A bemused Ford then turned straight to referee James Doleman, clearly expecting the official to hand him the chance to retake his attempt. Instead, the England vice-captain received clarification and was ordered back to the half-way line.
Doleman explained that Ford had triggered a movement to the side, which then enabled the Welsh winger to run out and essentially play the ball. When a conversion is being taken, rugby union rules allow a side to leave the try-line when a kicker has begun his run-up or advanced at the ball.
But fans were still left confused. @CyberpunkBTC85 asked “When did side stepping mean advancing?” @ruth_white added “He’s definitely not starting his run up with that step… he’s setting himself BEFORE the run.”
Opinions were split on ITV at half-time though, with former No 10s Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Biggar siding with their respective countries. Wilkinson said: “Its very difficult for a referee to know when a kicker has started his approach. “That’s for the kicker to know. I’d side with the kicker here and send the defence back.”
Biggar argued that the fact Ford stepped to the side meant he had techincally started his run-up though. “He tried to be a little bit too clever, trying to run the clock down with just 13 men on the field,” he argued. “He’ll be disappointed but for me he’s moved to side in preparation to take the kick.
The Red Roses have form in that department though. In the 2023 World Cup, Owen Farrell had the chance to take an easy penalty against Samoa but lost track of the time, leaving referee Andrew Brace no choice but to ‘time him out’ and deny him the chance to kick for goal.
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And their latest mishap from the tee appeared to cost them deat the interval. No 8 Ben Earl had powered over in response to Wales being awarded a penalty try, despite the hosts being down to 13 men. Flankers Dan Cheshire and Ethan Roots both saw early yellow cards, the former for a dangerous tackle and the latter for bringing down the maul that led to the Welsh seven-pointer.
But before the break, Welsh back-row player Alex Mann rounded off a superb move to go under the posts. Ioan Lloyd converted to make it 14-5 at half-time.
