Referee under fire after agonising Stormers defeat

· The South African

The Stormers were knocked out of the Champions Cup on Saturday after suffering a 28-27 loss to Toulon, and although they were the architects of their own demise in many ways, there do have to be questions asked of the referee.

With the Stormers playing with a two-man advantage at one stage towards the end of the game, the visitors were not awarded what seemed to be a clear penalty try when Matthias Halagahu dragged down a maul that was bound for the tryline.

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Subsequently, the Stormers came close to a last-gasp try, but after a lengthy TMO review, Charles Ollivon prevented a try from being scored despite lying in a dubious position.

Referee under fire as Stormers taste defeat

Outspoken Nick Mallett slammed referee Christophe Ridley and his officials after the game, suggesting the decision-making was simply “dreadful”.

“That’s a penalty try, there is no question about it,” he said. “Collapsing the maul a metre from the line to stop a certain try, it’s a dreadful decision from the referee and I will go even further with that final decision at the end of the game was dreadful as well.

“He was on completely the wrong side of the ruck and he said I thought two hands were under it, how could he say that if he didn’t even see the guy go over for the try?

“Added to that, Ollivon is lying on the ground, he says that he is in the in-goal area. If you are off your feet, you are not allowed to play; you can’t tackle anyone or play the ball.”

What did John Dobson think?

Stormers boss John Dobson admitted after the match that it was a terrible way to lose the game.

“We had to adapt to some EPCR interpretations. In the URC – which is obviously our day job – when you run into the maul like that and it gets brought down, it’s clearly a penalty try. But not in the EPCR.

“Obviously a bit frustrated at the end there. Once it goes to the TMO then maybe you can’t see the grounding and the on-field decision for some reason is ‘no try’.

“What’s frustrating for us is that (Toulon flank Charles) Ollivan is clearly inside the field of play on the ground. I don’t understand why it wasn’t awarded. A very frustrating way for the game to end.”

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