Anscombe try should have stood, say rugby chiefs

WALES have been told by World Rugby that Gareth Anscombe’s disallowed try in the defeat by England last Saturday should have been given, even though the controversial decision was referred to the television match official (TMO), assistant coach Rob Howley has revealed.

Head coach Warren Gatland was furious, and after the match said that the TMO had “made a terrible mistake” in claiming that Anscombe had not grounded the ball for a try in the 24th minute.

Anscombe looked to have beaten England wing Anthony Watson to the loose ball and touched it down with his left hand, only for referee Jerome Garces to refer the decision to TMO Glenn Newman.

After reviewing two replays of the incident, Newman decided there was not enough evidence to award a try.

Howley said yesterday that Gatland has spoken with Alain Rolland, the former international referee who now acts as World Rugby’s high performance 15s match officials’ manager, and he told the Wales coach that the try should have been given.

“I know Warren Gatland spoke to Alain Rolland, and they confirmed that the TMO made a mistake,” he said.

When asked about Howley’s claim, a World Rugby spokesman said: “World Rugby has clarified to the Wales team management as part of the usual review process with teams that the TMO made an error in the application of law during the England versus Wales match. In accordance with law 21.1b, Wales should have been awarded a try as the Wales player grounded the ball.”

At the time of the TMO review, Wales were losing 12-0 and still had a penalty advantage that they took to reduce the deficit to nine points.

But Gatland was adamant afterwards that even though the additional four points that would have come with a converted try wouldn’t have overturned the final 12-6 scoreline, it would have had some sort of impact on the remainder of the game.

The confirmation will not ease the anger among Welsh fans after their Grand Slam hopes ended as a result of the narrow defeat.

There was mixed news for Wales yesterday as three internationals committed their future to both the Scarlets and the national team, with scrum-half Gareth Davies, centre Jonathan Davies and lock Jake Ball all agreeing new National Dual Contracts to remain with the reigning Guinness PRO12 champions.

But the bad news came in that Cardiff Blues wing Alex Cuthbert will miss the rest of the Six Nations after being ruled out for up to six weeks, having suffered a knee injury that requires surgery in training last weekend. Controversial: Wales ace Gareth Anscombe (left) touches down, but the TMO said there was not enough evidence to award a try