CR EN AVANT YA PAS PHOTO

OK so as I promised 2T  voila le post qui va régler une fois pour toute la question de l'en avant Gallois.

Je ne vais pas entrer dans la polémique (ou discuter du fait qu'on aurait pu se mettre a l'abri en transformant le premier essai, ou se faciliter les choses si on prenait pas un carton rouge -parfaitement légitime... quel con d'ailleurs!!), je vais presenter les faits et les règles, ainsi que ce qu'il s'est passé avec les mots qui ont été utilisés. Vous pourrez choisir de débattre si vous le voulez, mais la chose est sûre, indéniable et on ne peut pas la remettre en question (a moins d'être "bias" - d'être biaisé en Anglais),  l'essai n'était pas valable et cette erreur d'arbitrage a couté la qualification de la France: sans cette erreur d'arbitrage, pas d'essai. Pas d'essai pas de point en plus. Pas de points en plus, pas de victoire des gallois.

Donc, without further ado, pourquoi il y a eu erreur d'arbitrage:

Les faits de jeu: après un cafouillage, Thomas Williams arrache le ballon des mains d'Ollivon. Il gicle et décrit une trajectoire qui ressemble - a vitesse reel et sur l'angle présente "live" (en direct en Anglais) aller vers l'avant. Le flanker Justin Tipuric le récupère mais échoue devant la ligne. Ross Moriarty, en seconde lame, jaillit pour inscrire l'essai.


L'essai était-il valable ? Pour trancher il faut les réponses a questions  :
1/ is it a forward throw or pass?
2/ is it a knock-on?
3/ did the ball travel forward the French dead ball line?
4/ Can a "rip" (arrachage en Anglais) lead to a knock on


Que dit le règlement ? Consultons les lois du jeu dictées par World Rugby, l'instance qui régit le rugby à l'échelle mondiale:

Dans la section "definitions" du World Rugby:

Throw forward: When a player throws or passes the ball forward i.e. if the arms of the player passing the ball move forward.

Wales player Tamos Williams rips the ball and his ripping arm goes behind his head towards France's try line. 
By ripping the ball from Ollivon, Tamos Williams (wether on purpose or not is irrelevant) passes the ball to his team-mate Justin Tipuric.

This definition is crystal clear:  the play is a "throw forward" and therefore if the ball moves forward, it is a forward pass. 

If it is a forward pass, the try cannot be awarded.


To avoid any doubt or discussion, I will also address the diehard Wales fans  trying to wiggle their way out of the term forward pass by considering that a "rip" is not a pass, but "in the spirit of rugby" is more akin to a "knock" - to these people I say: fair point, so? what do the rules state about "knock-on":

Toujours dans la section "definitions" du World Rugby:

Knock-on: When a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward, or when a player hits the ball forward with the hand or arm, or when the ball hits the hand or arm and goes forward, and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it.

Cette definition est claire, le ballon n'allant pas vers l'en-but Gallois, il ne peut pas s'agir d'un "knock-on" Francais. So, does it fall into the category of a Wales "knock-on"? 

World Rugby has a specific "Rule section" covering knock-ons, à savoir la règle 11!  (Notamment à les règle 11 alinéa 2 et alinéa 5b)

11.2 It is a knock-on when a player, in tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent, makes contact with the ball and the ball goes forward.

Again, here the rule is clear and leaves no room for interpretation, if this rule is applied on its own, the play is therefore a Wales knock-on. 
But wait, there is a caveat, a specific rule for the "rip" in this case that could cancel the knock on: 11.5.b 

11.5 The ball is not knocked-on, and play continues, if:

1. b. A player rips or knocks the ball from an opponent and the ball goes forward from the opponent’s hand or arm.

Once more, the rule is very clear, for 11.5.b to apply, the ball has to travel forward from the opponent's hand or arm (i.e. off the French arm toward the Wales dead ball line). This is not the case, so rule 11.5.b cannot apply, and 11.2 stands.

Since the ball is caught by another player on the team, the knock is therefore considered a pass.

If the rip deemed a "knock" (instead of a throw or pass) the ball moves toward the French dead ball line - and the same player does not catch the ball, it is therefore a knock-on, and the try cannot be awarded.

So now the crucial question: le ballon est-il allé vers l'en-but Français après l'arrachage? oui ou non? (there is no middle ground here. Yes of course it might have been hard on the field in the heat of the moment, but physically,  there is no margin for debate: the ball either went forward or not)

je vous remets la video pour que ce soit clair:

so back to the initial questions:
1/ is it a forward throw or pass? YES
2/ is it a knock-on? FROM WALES.
3/ did the ball travel forward the French dead ball line? YES

CONCLUSION: THE TRY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN AWARDED.



For the record: Earlier in the tournament a Fiji rip against Georgia was termed a knock on, as it left the ripping players arm last and went forward to the ground.


link to world rugby rules (Download the 2019 World Rugby Law Book)