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Wed 17 Apr 2013 | 10:58
Midweek Madness - Ben John scores a bizarre Ospreys try

22
Comments

Dan Biggar scored 18 points as the Ospreys beat Treviso 28-3 in their RaboDirect Pro12 meeting at the Liberty Stadium. Rookie Ben John got on the scoresheet for his first Ospreys try, but it came about in the most bizarre of circumstances.

Just before halftime Ospreys were denied in the corner thanks to a great covering tackle, but a moment of madness from Treviso's Tommaso Iannone then gifted them a try.

Iannone took a quick thrown-in, which led to Tobias Botes fluffing his clearance kick, and the ball landing in the hands of grateful winger John, who snapped it up and dotted down.

"I dived for the corner and went into touch and I haven't seen it back so I don't know how close I was to the line," he said. "I got back up and the ball was at my feet so as a first try, I'll take that.

"I knew my left foot was in the air so I just jumped on it. Then I got up and looked around and everyone was celebrating. I didn't really know what was going on," said the 22-year old, who normally plays centre but was moved to the wing due to Ospreys injury problems.

"It was brilliant to get on the scoreboard and get a try. It means a lot just to put the jersey on in any position. That's a huge achievement. I was lucky enough to play against Treviso in the Heineken Cup so I've had a lot of firsts this year. That was a nice one to add to the collection."

Other tries were scored by Biggar and Rhys Webb, but John's was certainly the strangest. 

You can see more of the weird and wonderful in our See it to Believe it section

Posted By: Grant Constable

22 Comments

  • eatmyrugbyshorts
    2:21 AM 20/04/2013

    That's the one - cracking spot there Mark - didn't realise it was on the site (link: http://www.rugbydump.com/2008/01/312/bizarre-richard-haughton-try-vs-glasgow)

    Sure there was some further commentary/studio discussion on the incident not shown in the clip as its the reason I know this strange law exists.

  • kjw
    6:37 PM 18/04/2013

    Have refereed for 7/8 years..... (Hence I know that my association covered the variations in depth pre-season, and the in goal throw was one of the points looked at!)

    And am not saying that I don't make law errors (though my goal each season is not to) but that the only excuse for making them is not spending enough time with the good book!

  • browner
    6:16 PM 18/04/2013

    we presume you've never ref'd ?

  • gonzoman
    4:25 PM 18/04/2013

    I can forgive the referee on this one...I get the feeling he was unsure about the validity of the whole thing but didn't know the exact law against it.

    What I cannot do is forgive the TJ...the referee asked him not once but twice if the line-out was OK. The TJ said yes both times! He's got a very small percentage of the laws to be on top of, and that's one of them. Shocking.

    I also agree that the TMO fluffed up. Clearly in touch when he caught the ball.

    I propose the following to rectify the situation: the Heineken Cup should hire KJW as the referee, Cheyanqui as the touch judge, and Alasdairduncan3 for TMO!

  • cheyanqui
    3:48 PM 18/04/2013

    the other similar application:

    when your opponent has kicked the ball into your in-goal and it's approaching the dead ball line.

    if you are in touch (with a leg, let's say) and ground it directly, it's a 22m dropout.

    if you catch it in the air whilst in touch, it's a 22m dropout or scrum at the kick

    I've seen on TV several occasions where a defender stood in touch and grounded the ball, only to find out it was still a 22m.


  • eatmyrugbyshorts
    3:13 PM 18/04/2013

    I remember seeing this law come into play - think it was 3/4 years ago in a European game - can't recall the teams unfortunately.

    Exactly the 'chasing a grubber kick' scenario described. Attacking winger was chasing a kick through running shoulder to shoulder with a defender. Ball crossed the try line right near the corner flag - winger & defender dived for the ball (now in the in-goal area) - attacker touched the ball down with his inside hand while his outside hand was on the ground in touch. TMO awarded the try.

    Fairly sure the commentators saying at the time he's in touch, its no try and the TMO's given the try in error. However they later apologised and referred to this law explaining that as the player just touched the ball down it was a try, however if he'd held onto the ball he would've been classed as in-touch and hence no try.

    Maybe someone else can add to/correct my memory of this.

  • eatmyrugbyshorts
    2:44 PM 18/04/2013

    Just watched the BBC Scrum V highlights of the weekends Rabo action and the studio guests agreed with everything above - can't take a quick lineout in the in-goal area and the scorer's in touch when he gets the ball. Apparently the quick lineout situation also happened during Italy v France in this year's 6 Nations.

    Didn't know about the quick lineout rule myself (however I would've expected at least one of the officials to be aware) but the scorer's foot is clearly in touch. The TMO must've had a bet riding on the game or something....

  • matt
    2:36 PM 18/04/2013

    I like your last point. Whether you give any weight to the Welsh connection or not, you would have to say that if there is the potential for accusations of unfair treatment to be made, then you sure as hell make certain you do your job properly.

  • matt
    2:33 PM 18/04/2013

    Good on you, your English is far better than anything else I can do

  • danknapp
    10:48 AM 18/04/2013

    Hey man, don't worry about your English, it's really clear.

    You must be really proud of the way the Italian team has improved over the past few years?

  • 4:01 AM 18/04/2013

    I can excuse the inability to recognize that the quick throw in should not have been allowed due to the throw-in being taken behind the Treviso goal line - heck, I didn't even know that. But it's hard to excuse the TMO for not seeing the foot in touch. That was so blatant I noticed it even without reading it any of the comments or the text above the video. I don't think anyone can accuse me of looking for it. How that made it past the TMO is beyond me. That review period was far too short. Such a complicated event should have been given more that the cursory glance it got

  • reality
    11:02 PM 17/04/2013

    A cynic would say that that TMO is absolutely crap. As it happens, I'm a cynic, so...that TMO is absolutely crap.

  • 9:34 PM 17/04/2013

    What's the point in having a TMO who doesn't know the laws. It's seriously pathetic.

  • 8:59 PM 17/04/2013

    I totally agree. his left foot is on the ground over the line when he catches it, clear as day! Shocking descision by the man upstairs

  • alasdairduncan3
    8:34 PM 17/04/2013

    (when i say slow mo, i mean expertly double tapping the space bar)

  • alasdairduncan3
    8:32 PM 17/04/2013

    1:56 there's a good second and a half (in slow mo) where his left foot IS in touch whilst the ball is in his hands. There can be no question that the TMO made the wrong decision here.

  • 8:19 PM 17/04/2013

    More than anything, what I can't understand is why the hell would Iannone WANT to take that quickly from there with all those players standing around?

  • matt
    6:52 PM 17/04/2013

    Just to follow from your 1st point below, I am somewhat inclined to say that if Treviso broke the rules and it didn't work out for them, then tough luck. Having said that, I'm pretty sure that proper implementation of 'tough luck' is not a part of the official refereeing guidance, so he's still got it wrong.

  • matt
    6:51 PM 17/04/2013

    Cheers for the answer, that was what I thought, the ref has had a shocker

  • cheyanqui
    6:44 PM 17/04/2013

    KJW -- spot on, sorry I duplicated your point below.

  • ando
    6:44 PM 17/04/2013

    Agree, didn't think you could take a quick throw from behind your goal line...

  • matt
    5:22 PM 17/04/2013

    There are so many things wrong with this that I don't really know where to start.
    My in depth understanding of the rules is not the best so correct me if I'm wrong
    To my knowledge if the referee blocks a defender, play is supposed to be stopped and the team in possession gets a scrum?
    Then the pass from 12 to 13 had to be forward, it's hard to tell from the angle given, but I would be amazed to find it was legal.
    Then the ref definitely blows his whistle at 29 seconds, which I thought prevented a quick lineout from being taken?
    Are quick lineouts allowed in the dead ball area? I thought they had to be taken from within the field of play.
    And finally, is there any way that you can say his left foot is in the air? The quality of my stream wasnt great, so I didnt have the clearest picture, but it looked to me like he was stood straddling the touch line.

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