SO, WHY WAS THAT ‘WINNING’ TRY DISALLOWED?

IN the 76th minute Courtney Lawes charged down TJ Perenara’s box-kick – the ball bobbled to Sam Underhill who tore past Beauden Barrett to score. The try would have won England the game, but it was disallowed. Here we explain why.

WHAT IS THE OFFSIDE RULE?

The offside line runs parallel to the goal-line through the back foot of players in ruck. However, in this particular ruck there are no England players bound into the ruck. Therefore the offside line runs through the white-shirted tackler on the floor.

HAS THE RULE BEEN CHANGED?

World Rugby changed the law last year after ‘ruck-gate’ in the Six Nations when Italy did not commit anyone to the breakdown and then moved round to the English side legally. Now only one player needs to be standing over the ball for a ruck to be formed. In this ruck, the offside line for England is the hindmost point of their man on the ground.

WHEN IS THE BALL RULED TO BE OUT OF THE RUCK?

The ball is ‘out’ when it is lifted from the floor by the scrum-half. It used to be when the hands touched the ball, but that was changed a number of years ago.

SO WHY WAS LAWES RULED OFFSIDE?

While bound into the ruck All Black prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi moves his left foot forward at the precise moment scrum-half TJ Perenara picks up the ball. With Lawes originally loitering onside — behind his team-mate on the floor — this movement puts him offside. Lawes tried to pick the perfect moment to charge down Perenara, but his timing was ruled wrong by a fraction of a second.

WHAT DID THE TV MATCH OFFICIAL SAY?

South African Marius Jonker (right) said to referee Jerome Garces ‘From the pictures I have, as the half-back picks up the ball number 20 white (Lawes) is in an offside position. You need to change your decision to a penalty.’

WHY DID REFEREE NOT OVERRULE TMO?

Some referees think the TMO Jonker should not have ruled out the try. Tries should only be disallowed on review by the TMO if the infringement is indisputable. ‘Clear and obvious’ is the phrase used, which this was not.

2 AT THE front of the ruck, All Black prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi moves his left foot forward at the precise moment Perenara (right) picks up the ball. This moves the offside line forward half a stride, and puts Lawes (No 20) in an offside position that means the try is ruled out.

1 NEW ZEALAND scrum-half TJ Perenara (right) has his hands on the ball at the back of the ruck, before picking it up to make it live. Courtney Lawes (No 20) is onside as he is behind the hindmost part of George Ford (floored), who represents the offside line.