He was unhappy with the decision.
In the aftermath of Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton, former Test referee, Owen Doyle, has asserted that Leinster were unjustly denied a penalty try in the dying moments of the game.
Towards the end of the match, Leinster’s Josh van der Flier surged to the try line, only to be halted short. Northampton’s Alex Coles prevented the Leinster man from reaching the line, and was penalised and carded by French referee Pierre Brousset. However, Doyle feels a penalty try should have been awarded.
The main point of controversy for Doyle was that Cole went to ground on van der Flier, and that the Leinsterman would most likely have scored without this intervention.
He said: “It [the law book] outlaws an opponent from falling on a ball carrier who is on the ground. It is expressly forbidden. Otherwise, van der Flier could very probably have reached out and scored.”
Doyle noted probability being a key factor for awarding a penalty try, and considering van der Flier’s distance from the try line, a score was probable and would’ve been the “correct call.”
Doyle did acknowledge Leinster may have been on the side of an incorrect call with Max Deegan’s delayed pass to van der Flier after being tackled, leading to a first-half try, potentially breaching the rule that states a tackled player must immediately place the ball on the ground or pass it. Deegan’s feinting movement, which prevented Northampton from contesting possession, could’ve been ruled out but it was not on the the “same scale” as the penalty try incident.
Doyle notes in all matches there are contestable decisions with scrum and breakdown calls, but Brousset was overall “fair and equitable”. Yet he feels the referee will be remembered on this one moment.
He added: “Some will argue that it shouldn’t have come down to just one incident, but the problem is that it did. It definitely did.”
