England’s Grand Slam pat on the back… fail!

Jonathan Kaplan – Six Nations Blunder

Brian O' Driscol approaches Jonathan Kaplan to question his decision to award Wales their decisive try.

Ireland will be given an official apology by the IRB this week, for the decision that saw Wales awarded a decisive try that wasn’t a try. Referee Jonathan Kaplan and touch judge Peter Allan failed to spot, 10 minutes into the second half, that a ball boy had handed a ball to the Welsh hooker (not the ball that had been kicked into touch..) and Matthew Rees was wrongly allowed to take a quick throw-in to Mike Phillips (who everyone knows, is a massive tool). Unfortunately Phillips ran 45 metres and scored to rob Ireland of their customary victory in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium.

To clarify:

Under law 19.2 (d), a player is allowed to take a quick throw only if he or the opponent who took it into touch touched the ball after it had gone out of play. The ball-boy was standing right next to Allan when he gave the ball to Rees and Kaplan had an uninterrupted view from five metres away. It was irrelevant that it was not the ball that had been kicked out on the full by Jonathan Sexton, who had been on the field for one minute after replacing Ronan O’Gara. That had been caught by a spectator and was in the hands of Shane Williams when the throw was taken.

Brian O’Driscoll called the decision “embarrassing and unforgivable”. At this level, I have to agree with the star-studded veteran (who is consistently very diplomatic). Even the Welsh camp admitted that the try should not have been awarded.

Kaplan and Peter Allan now face being censured and downgraded. Kaplan has also not been chosen to adjudicate any Super Rugby games for the next three weeks and has temporarily been relieved of his duties in the 2011 Super 15. Kaplan has been under fire since the Rebels’ win over the Brumbies last month when he awarded another controversial try without consulting the TMO.

Kaplan is now bloodied AND in the water, and I’m afraid the sharks have circling for some time now and many will not miss this opportunity to take a bite. I have always rated Kaplan (not only because he is South African) and it is a shame that it has come to this for him, but perhaps this is another example of the old cliché: “quit while you’re ahead”.

Question is now: will he sink or swim?!