London: Wales have received a formal admission from World Rugby they should have had a try awarded in last Saturday’s 12-6 Six Nations defeat at Twickenham, drawing the ire of England coach Eddie Jones.
Wales’ assistant coach Rob Howley said that World Rugby’s refereeing chief Alain Rolland admitted an error by the Television Match Official (TMO) in a conversation on Monday with Wales coach Warren Gatland.
“I know Warren Gatland spoke to Alain Rolland, and they confirmed that the TMO made a mistake,” Howley said.
“It was good to have dialogue with World Rugby. It’s happened. It is disappointing that happens in professional sport, but we focus on the next two weeks and getting ourselves ready for Ireland.
“There was plenty of time after that decision. We had a couple of opportunities which we should have taken.”
Gareth Anscombe appeared to ground the ball over the try line ahead of England winger Anthony Watson in a chase in the first half, after the home team had taken an early 12-0 lead.
Anscombe looked to get some downward pressure on the ball, but the TMO Glenn Newman ruled there was no clear evidence of grounding in what Gatland, after the match, called “a terrible mistake”.
Jones responded by accusing World Rugby of undermining their own match officials.
“I just think once the game’s done and dusted that’s the game, you can’t have retrospective refereeing of decisions being done,” he said.
“We’ve got to trust the referees, respect their integrity. When I say respect the referee, that’s the TV process as well, and then you leave it at that, and then you get on with it. One side’s won, one side’s lost.”
Victory for England in a tightly fought game on Saturday kept them on course for the grand slam.
They next meet Scotland at Murrayfield while Wales face unbeaten Ireland in Dublin with both games on February 24.
