THE REFEREE’S VERDICT

Sinckler, because he jumped up in the first place, has momentum. Faumuina is committed and has to go through with his tackle. I can’t see how he could have pulled out of it, to be honest.

As I say, under law it’s technically a penalty. But my fear is that given this call by Garces decided such a highprofile match, it is the type of thing that could be, and probably will be, latched upon by coaches throughout the world.

As Keiran Read said to the referee, ‘If one of our players jumps into a tackle we get a penalty then, do we?’

You can’t jump into a tackle, so to speak. But what coaches can do in tight matches similar to this one is tell their scrum-half to throw the ball slightly high, so the receiving player has to jump for it, has momentum and will get a penalty for being tackled in the air.

Look, we know when a player has been tackled badly in the air. It’s clear and obvious.

This was was far less so. I bet Faumuina didn’t even know what he had been penalised for when Garces blew his whistle.

I repeat, under law it was probably the correct decision. But it’s something the authorities will need to look at and address, to stop every team trying to gain an advantage that way.

Anyway, at least it meant the Lions won, which is the main thing over here and for their army of fans out in New Zealand!

David Bodilly’s column appears in association with joneshargreaves.

They are proud to be associated with Rhiwbina RFC, Lions captain Sam Warburton’s first club