{"id":261930,"date":"2025-11-14T06:59:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/261930\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T06:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:59:13","slug":"nigel-owens-clears-up-outrage-over-controversial-all-blacks-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/261930\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigel Owens clears up outrage over controversial All Blacks incident"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Week two of the Quilter Nations Series had its share of controversial moments, with Cam Roigard\u2019s try for the All Blacks<\/a> in the opening minutes of their victory over Scotland<\/a> being near the top of the list.<\/p>\n

While there was nothing controversial about the scrum-half\u2019s actions, the break made by second-row Josh Lord<\/a> to set up the try has opened up quite a debate online.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs<\/a> lock broke the Scottish defence untouched around the base of a ruck (or so it seemed) on halfway, with many questioning the legality of the move as he was part of the apparent ruck.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Japan<\/a> tighthead Shuhei Takeuchi<\/a> pulled off a move shortly before that looked ostensibly the same, only to be penalised by Gianluca Gnecchi.<\/p>\n

These two moves, and consequences, opened the door for a raft of conspiracy theories online about the treatment of different teams. However, the explanation is far simpler, as former referee Nigel Owens has explained.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

England <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New Zealand <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this instance here [Japan match], if a player is bound in the ruck, and he puts his hand down and picks the ball up, you can\u2019t play the ball with your hands in the ruck,\u201d the Welshman said on World Rugby\u2019s\u00a0Whistle Watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he wants to do that, he\u2019s got to detach and then pick the ball up, which then means the ruck is over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to pick up the ball, the ruck must be over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key difference [in the All Blacks match], it\u2019s not a ruck. You don\u2019t have any Scottish players on their feet bound onto that New Zealand<\/a> player. So you don\u2019t have a ruck.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you have now is a tackle situation, and the the law that we just discussed does not apply because it\u2019s not a ruck. Because there\u2019s no ruck formed, it\u2019s now a tackle, which means Lord is not picking the ball up in a ruck, which you\u2019re not allowed to do, he\u2019s picking the ball up in a tackle situation, which is perfectly legal and allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he had one leg back, and the ball was in front of that leg, he\u2019s quite entitled to do what he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference between these two moments?<\/p>\n

Catch the latest episode of #WhistleWatch<\/a> on YouTube and RugbyPass TV to find out the answer to this question and more \ud83d\udc40 pic.twitter.com\/LLWy7Ag8NO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 World Rugby (@WorldRugby) November 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n