England fly-half George Ford was left baffled by Wales' refusal to convert him in Saturday's Six Nations clash at Twickenham.
After losing 7-0 with an early knockout, Ford had an opportunity to level the score with a fairly straight conversion after Ben Earl's try in the 19th minute.
However, the England playmaker was unable to convert an easy kick by his high standards when Wales winger Rio Dier ran out and kicked the ball off the tee.
😬 Do you agree that George Ford started the approach?#SixNations #BBCRrugby pic.twitter.com/zFCSjde2G7
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) February 11, 2024
The experienced fly-half appealed to referee James Doleman, who had hoped the New Zealander would give him a second chance to try to convert, but was refused.
The source explained that Ford started approaching the ball, allowing the Welsh winger to sprint forward and try to charge.
Ford was perplexed.
Ford wasn't the only one confused and perplexed by the call with ITV experts discussing the decision, even referencing outdated legislation to explain Doleman's call.
After the game, Ford was still confused by the call.
“I've never seen anything like this before. I was clearly at the back of my stance, so I fidgeted a little bit, moved my body a little bit to the side, and I was deemed to have started a run-up,” England's vice-captain said after the match. Ta. .
“Good luck. If the umpires go down that path, we're going to work hard as kickers to make sure it doesn't happen again.”
Asked if he felt the decision was “harsh”, Ford replied: “Yeah, I've never seen anything like this in my rugby career.”
Former Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar believed he had reached the right decision.
“He got a little too smart and tried to cut the clock with only 13 people on the field. He'll be disappointed, but to me he's moving to the side in preparation to take a kick,” Biggar said. He spoke on ITV.
Former England flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson disagreed with Biggar's opinion and felt that Ford should have been allowed to retake the kick.
“It's very difficult for the umpire to know when the kicker starts his approach. That's for the kicker to know,” he said.
“Here you'll stand with the kicker and send the defense back.”
💬 @johnny wilkinson “I don’t understand how all of a sudden the referee can tell the kicker that he has started approaching.”
Should George Ford have been given a chance to redo the kick? 🤔
Experts have their say on the conversion debate…#Guinness Six Nations pic.twitter.com/whfapoLB11
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 10, 2024
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Was that decision the right one?
But was the right decision made?
Rule 8.14 regarding opposing teams on conversions states: “All players must retreat to their goal line and not cross that line until they have moved in the direction in which the kicker begins his approach to the kick.”
“When a kicker does this, he may lunge or jump to prevent a goal, but these movements must not be physically supported by other players.”
The above states that the opponent must not advance from the goal line until “the kicker moves in either direction to begin the approach.”
2020 Description
However, World Rugby provided further clarification in 2020 at the request of New Zealand Rugby following a similar incident during the 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa tournament.
Crusaders back Braydon Enner successfully charged a kick from Blues fly-half Otere Black. Black's kicking routine featured him taking several steps back before stepping forward and hitting the ball, but in this case, Enner jumped up while retreating and managed to dash in and score a block.
Blocked! 🚫🙅 Was this a game-changing moment that changed my destiny? @bluesrugbyteam? #CRUvBLU @SuperRugbyNZ pic.twitter.com/ldthppvq3U
— Sky Sports New Zealand (@skysportnz) July 11, 2020
NZ Rugby asked for clarification on what it meant to “begin to approach the kick” and the explanation read: “The moment the kicker moves in either direction, he is considered to be 'approaching the kick.'”
“The reason for this interpretation is for simplicity, because otherwise the referee would have to decide when and in what direction the kicker first moved.” This could lead to ”
In our opinion, referee Doleman is right, as it is only when Ford takes a step to his left that Dier and his teammates can move forward.
England's fly-half may not feel that a step to the side is part of the approach to the ball, but as explained above, a step in any direction is considered an approach to the kick. Masu.
Cheslin Kolbe Chargedown
A similar incident occurred during the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final match between hosts France and South Africa, where Springbok winger Cheslyn Kolbe was able to charge at Thomas Ramos' attempt to convert.
The clearest angle yet of Cheslyn Kolbe's charge. ❌
Rule 8.14 – Opposing Team on Conversion: “All players must retreat to the goal line and not cross that line until the kicker has moved in either direction to begin his approach to the kick.”
“When the kicker does this… pic.twitter.com/x2ez9LA9SZ
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) October 19, 2023
Similar to this situation, Kolbe understood Ramos' movement when he took the kick, and while the French player may not have stepped towards the ball, he actually moved and that's why Kolbe was able to move forward. This gave me the opportunity to run as fast as I could.
Unlike last year's quarter-final, Ford's miss on goal did not affect the outcome of the match, as England fought back in the second half to beat Wales 16-14.
read more: England v Wales: 5 lessons learned as error-riddled Red Rose beat 'realistic' Wales in Six Nations clash
