Gatland raps TMO as ‘no try’ row rages

WARREN Gatland hit out at the Twickenham TMO last night after his Welsh team were denied a crucial try during their 12-6 defeat by England.

Rhys Patchell’s crosskick to Steffan Evans came loose off the winger’s leg and Gareth Anscombe looked like he’d got in front of Anthony Watson in a desperate race to touch the ball down.

But Kiwi TMO Glenn Newman ruled Anscombe had not applied sufficent downward pressure as the ball squirted forward.

Gatland rapped: “It looked like a try to me, everyone else I’ve spoken to says it was a try and we are disappointed he’s got the decision wrong. He’s made a terrible mistake.

“Everyone makes mistakes and we can appreciate human error, but I thought there was downward pressure on the ball.”

Welsh captain Alun wyn Jones said: “The decision not to award the try is disappointing, I can’t sit here and say it isn’t, but now it’s out of our hands.

“I was pleased with the way we played and there are positives to take from this.”

England head coach Eddie Jones shrugged off their complaints.

“The TMO made his decision so I will leave that to him. We have a guy up there called the TMO to

make the decision. If we don’t trust those guys then what do we do next?”

Wing Jonny May landed two tries in the opening 20 minutes as England took a 12-0 lead, but then admitted he needs to get even faster to keep his England dream alive.

The Leicester star hopes his first Six Nations tries will ensure he starts against Scotland at Murrayfield in 13 days time.

But the wing knows the competition is fierce.

May, who has 12 Test tries, said: “I love being a part of this team and will do everything I can to stay in it. I want to be the fastest around, and know I can be faster than I am at present. That’s what I work on. I also have to work harder on my kick chase, defence and rest of my game.

“It’s an awesome feeling to get two important tries in a game as tight as this.

“They were both totally different. Me and Owen were in sync for the first one. We saw there was space behind them and I was ready and waiting for him to kick it through. I just needed to win the race.

“The second one was a brilliant effort from the whole team. We wanted to be punchy, and we were definitely that at that moment with some excellent handling.

“This environment means if you want to stay in you have to keep improving and I feel I am playing my best rugby at the moment.

“We needed one more score. But Wales stuck in there and it turned into an arm wrestle – it was a bit nervous at the end.”

England head coach Jones praised May. He said: “Jonny was absolutely outstanding today. He was brilliant. No-one else would have scored that first try.

“It was a win built around a lot of courage and desire and determination. The defence was first class.

“It was a proper Test, a real arm wrestle and we showed we can win arm wrestles when it matters.”

Full-back Mike Brown praised Sam Underhill for the replacement flanker’s last-ditch try-saving tackle on Scott Williams.

“Sam did brilliantly to make up all that ground and still get to Williams and take him out. It was a crucial moment.”