European rugby officials last night made the extraordinary admission that the last-gasp try that clinched Connacht’s 20-18 victory over Wasps in the European Champions Cup should not have been awarded.
The clock had ticked past 80 minutes when Connacht kicked a penalty to touch — but only after their captain had persuaded the referee that a new law allowed for the lineout to be taken. In fact the law does not come into force in the northern hemisphere until August.
From the throw Naulia Dawai was driven over the line to score, with Jack Carty kicking the winning conversion.
European Professional Club Rugby, the tournament organisers, took the unprecedented step of acknowledging the refereeing error, but confirmed that Saturday’s result will stand, which could have far-reaching consequences for Wasps and the tournament.
Connacht’s victory allowed them to join Wasps and Toulouse on 13 points in pool 2, the tightest group in the competition.
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Had Wasps gone on to complete back-to-back wins against Connacht, they would have been on 16 points and in pole position to earn a home quarter-final, with the Guinness PRO12 champions on ten points.
If Wasps fail to progress to the knockout stages on the back of this mistake, the financial implications for the club could be sizeable because they would miss out on prize money and television revenues. An away quarter-final would deny them gate receipts.
The crucial refereeing error occurred as a compelling match reached a stunning climax.
Josh Bassett scored to put Wasps ahead after 72 minutes and the visiting side then defended their line resolutely. With 30 seconds remaining, Wasps won a turnover and tried to retain possession to eat up the clock, only to concede a penalty as it ticked towards full time.
Mathieu Raynal, who had taken over as referee in the 74th minute when Jérôme Garcès damaged a hamstring, initially informed John Muldoon, the Connacht captain, that he had no time to kick for touch because the match would be over when the ball went dead.
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Muldoon argued that the new laws allowed for a penalty to be kicked to touch — and the subsequent lineout to be taken — even if time was up. Raynal’s error was to change his mind and clear Connacht to kick for touch.
The law raised by Muldoon will be trialled by World Rugby next year and does not come into force in the northern hemisphere until August 1.
EPCR, however, said that the result would stand because, had Connacht been advised that they could not kick for touch, they would have taken a tap penalty or a scrum and could still have scored a try before the end of the match.
Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, was keeping his counsel last night. He plans on talking today with Joël Jutge, the head of match officials for EPCR, and Tony Spreadbury, who holds the same position at the RFU, before giving his reaction.
Speaking after the game, Young said: “The script was written when they kicked to touch. It always looked like they were going to get the drive over and get the conversion.
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“We were one ruck away from winning that game. I am really disappointed for the players because it is a difficult place to come and try to get a result against a very good team. With one ruck to go we had won the game.”
Raynal, 35, is due to referee England’s RBS Six Nations Championship match against Scotland at Twickenham on March 11.
