Josh Lord and Shuhei Takeuchi made nigh-on identical breaks from a breakdown this weekend, but the Japan tighthead was penalised and the All Blacks lock set up a try. Here’s a breakdown as to why that was the case.
It’s rare that rugby throws up two similar incidents like this on the same weekend with such polarising outcomes without one referee being mistaken, but in this case, both officials got their calls spot on.
So let’s start with one that led to a try for the All Blacks.
In the opening three minutes of the match, Beauden Barrett passes to Fabian Holland to crash it up just to the right of the centre of the pitch on the halfway line.
He is brought to ground by Gregor Brown while Rory Hutchison is bumped off and rejoins the defensive line. Brown remains on the deck as Quinn Tupaea and Lord secure possession at the breakdown, with Scotland opting not to compete – the last bit is crucial.
All Blacks’ try
The Scottish defence opts to set the line rather than to compete for the ball and the moment that hooker Ewan Ashman plants his feet as, the first defender to Lord’s left, and takes a glance up to scan the pitch, the All Blacks lock strikes. He scoops up the ball with his massive right mitt and gallops past Ashman untouched.
Showing an impressive turn of pace for such a big unit, the lock gallops to just outside the 22 and commits both Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn before throwing a one-handed basketball-esque pass to Cam Roigard, supporting the attack like any good scrum-half would, who canters away to score the first points of the encounter.
The conversation between referee Nic Berry and TMO begins with the former asking if Lord’s feet are behind the ball when he picks it up.
This is important as at least one foot must be behind the ball in order to gain possession from a tackle situation.
Law 14.10 states: Offside lines are created at a tackle when at least one player is on their feet and over the ball, which is on the ground. Each team’s offside line runs parallel to the try line through the hindmost point of any player in the tackle or on their feet over the ball. If that point is on or behind the try line, the offside line for that team is the try line.
14.9 adds: Any player who gains possession of the ball:
a. Must play it immediately, by moving away, or by passing or kicking the ball.
b. Must remain on their feet, and not go to ground at or near the tackle unless tackled by the opposition.
c. May be tackled, provided the tackler does so from the direction of their own try line.
Lord ticks all of these boxes with Berry being informed and agreeing that ‘no ruck had been formed’ and the try stands. The fact that a ruck wasn’t formed in the All Blacks game but was in the Japan example is important.
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Josh Lord sets up Cam Roigard for the first try of the match! pic.twitter.com/fj7JuCPf10
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) November 8, 2025
Japan penalised
World Rugby law 15.2 states: A ruck is formed when at least one player from each team are in contact, on their feet and over the ball which is on the ground.
After making the tackle on Holland, Brown does not get back to his feet to compete, and none of his teammates enter the breakdown, which means that even with two All Blacks over the ball, a ruck has not yet formed.
That means that law 15.11 is not applicable to Lord. That law reads: Once a ruck has formed, no player may handle the ball unless they were able to get their hands on the ball before the ruck formed and stay on their feet. Sanction: Penalty.
Herein lies the difference between Lord’s break against Scotland and Takeuchi’s versus Ireland.
In the 26th minute, Japan secures possession from a lineout and crash it up in the midfield with Ireland back-rowers Caelan Doris and Nick Timoney making a double tackle.
Whats the difference ? Which ref got this right? #SCOvNZL #IREvJPN pic.twitter.com/9CTfSFeEyu
— Brett Igoe (@brettruganalyst) November 9, 2025
While Doris is pinned down on the ground, he remains on his feet and begins to compete at the breakdown. With Takeuchi and another teammate in the breakdown with Timoney, a ruck has been formed according to law 15.2.
Takeuchi picks up the ball and sprints away into the Irish 22, but the play is brought back by referee Gianluca Gnecchi, who awarded a penalty to the Irish.
The Italian official correctly penalised the Brave Blossoms prop under Law 15.2 as a ruck had formed before he scooped up the ball.
Referees get plenty of stick online, but in this case, both Berry and Gnecchi nailed the decision-making, with the former even double-checking his call as it did result in a try but allowed play to continue so as not to deny a try-scoring opportunity.
Gnecchi was much quicker to his whistle; he was quite certain of his decision, but Takeuchi’s pass landed into the hands of Ireland hooker Ronan Kelleher, which killed off the attack anyway.
Planet Rugby reached out to a current elite professional match official to ensure that the technicalities and law interpretations expressed in this article were accurate and fair – which they were.