World Rugby: England disallowed try was 'correct call'

Cape Town - World Rugby says that the decision to disallow England a late try in their clash against the All Blacks on Saturday was correct.

England lost the match 16-15, but there was a controversial moment when flank Sam Underhill thought he had scored a match-winning try only for it to be disallowed after TMO Marius Jonker ruled that Courtney Lawes was offside at the ruck. 

World Rugby’s new TMO trial aims to give back responsibility to the on-field referee, and after the decision it was argued that referee Jerome Garces was wrong to allow Jonker to make the final decision. 

But according to the The Guardian, World Rugby has ruled that due to mitigating factors, Garces was within his rights to defer the final decision to the TMO and that the correct decision - to disallow the try - was made in the end.

The English publication reported that Jonker's decision appeared to go beyond the need for compelling evidence for the TMO to intervene, but added: "Ultimately however, the governing body believes a number of mitigating factors meant Garces was within his rights to defer the final decision to the TMO, chiefly the poor weather which made visibility of Twickenham's big screens more difficult."

On Sunday, returned South African referee Jonathan Kaplan took a different view and said via a column for The Telegraph that there was no clear evidence for the England try to be ruled out.

CLICK HERE to read Kaplan's explanation