There was some controversy in an Aviva Premiership clash between Leicester Tigers and Newcastle Falcons at the weekend. Leicester hockeyed Newcastle 36-17 to kick off their league campaign but the referee did not cover himself in glory when he awarded the Tigers a try after one of their players clearly fouled the ball.
The incident happened from a Tigers scrum, five metres out from the try line. The Tigers number eight, Roberto Barbieri, somehow managed to get away with holding the ball between his heels and bunny-hopping towards the line until the scrum-half jumped in to touch the ball down. Picking up the ball with your legs in the scrum is an illegal move in Rugby Union and under the rules, Newcastle should have been awarded a penalty for the offence.
You can see from the footage below that the referee watched the whole thing happen right in front of his eyes and yet still awarded Leicester the try. Perhaps he needs to have another look over the rulebook.
Hat tip: Reddit
