Usually, the referee with the help of his assistants and the TMO get things right in Six Nations matches. If there is an issue spotted, the referee stops play, looks, and, if there is an infringement, changes his decision, as he did several times during Ireland’s match against Italy.
Irish prop Finlay Bealham had a try disallowed on one such occasion. He seemed to have scored, only for a double movement to show up from the various replays and different angles.
The wonder is that English referee Luke Pearce did not review the evidence and change his mind after disallowing what would have been Hugo Keenan’s second try of the match in the 73rd minute. The Irish fullback took up a pass flung back to him from left wing James Lowe after he had made his way up the field into a supporting position. Lowe, near the left touchline, first avoided the prostrate Italian winger Ange Capuozzo, who had run across only to receive the traditional Lowe bump off.
Capuozzo went down in the collision with the ball secure in Lowe’s hands. At that stage momentum had pushed the wing slightly off balance and hazardously close to the touchline as Tomasso Allan came across for the tackle. Phenomenal strength allowed Lowe keep straight and take three strides as he made his way towards the corner flag.
Then, as he was falling into touch and knew he wouldn’t make the try line, he was able to pick out the supporting Keenan with a hard slingshot of a pass. Keenan caught the ball and cut inside the covering Italian hooker Gianmarco Lucchese to run in and score.
But the assistant at the touchline, Morné Ferreira, had raised his flag for a foot in touch and the try was disallowed without any of the officials taking a closer look.
Irish captain Caelan Doris could be seen approaching Pearce but was rebuffed. Replays subsequently showed that Lowe had not stepped into touch. He came close but the different angles clearly indicated that his foot had not touched the line before he made the pass and that he had done a masterful job of staying in play, keeping his balance and finding Keenan with the ball.
It was a big call with Ireland leading 22-17 and the game far from put to bed. The officials should have reviewed the play. The try, if not converted, would have made it 27-17, giving Ireland room to breathe. Instead, Italy gained momentum, and it was an arm wrestle over the final minutes in a fraught finish. There will be a few red-faced officials dining out in Rome tonight.
