Respected former Test referee Nigel Owens believes that a Springboks try should have been ruled out with Scotland awarded a penalty.
South Africa had just gone 7-0 ahead through Embrose Papier’s score and Handre Pollard’s conversion when Scotland’s restart was well collected by Cobus Wiese.
The incident
The Boks lock was lifted into the air by Boan Venter but, instead of immediately putting him down, he carried Wiese forwards with him above his shoulders.
Scottish players, given that under World Rugby’s laws, are not allowed to take a player out in the air, or the person supporting them, decided not to engage.
That enabled the Springboks second-row to then get back on the ground and break clear of the visiting defence before off-loading to Paul de Villiers, who took play up to the 22.
After a few more phases, Evan Roos touched down to hand the hosts a 14-0 lead, which would prove absolutely crucial with the defending world champions going on to claim a 42-28 triumph.
Owens was asked on the latest episode of World Rugby’s Whistle Watch about the incident and whether it could be deemed obstruction.
“Obstruction tends to happen if you’re in front of a ball carrier, your own team-mate, and preventing an opposition player getting at it,” he said
“This is not obstruction but what this is, is a player in the air with a ball, you cannot touch him and you can’t touch the guys who’s supporting him in the air.
“Even though technically this is not obstruction, it is an action that prevents the defence from defending this because the player with the ball is in the air and being carried forward.”
Owens’ judgement
With the Scotland players therefore unable to make a tackle due to the actions of Venter and Wiese, Owens therefore judged that the Springboks duo infringed and should have therefore been penalised with the try being scrubbed off.
“If you look at the Scottish players, one of them sort of goes, ‘I don’t want to touch him and give a penalty away’, and that should be the trigger for you to go that this act is now illegal because you’re preventing a player from wilfully defending this situation,” he added.
“When he lifts him up momentarily to catch the ball and bring him straight down, that’s allowed and there’s no offence taken place.
“Whilst that is happening, you have to let the player come back down – that’s all perfectly legal – but once you hold him up there, or you start moving forward, the trigger should be, are you now preventing a defender from defending that?
“If the answer is yes, then that action is not allowed. I would say in this instance here the Scottish player is going, ‘I can’t defend this’, and therefore that should have been a penalty.”