Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Ronan O'Gara controversial try vs Italy

Monday, August 27, 2007

Ronan O'Gara controversial try vs Italy

Ireland played Italy this weekend in Belfast in a World Cup warm up match that before kick off seemed destined to be a win for Ireland. Italy fought hard though and controlled the second half, seemingly on track for a famous win.

O'Gara slotted a drop goal in the 79th minute, placing the hosts in a winning position with a frantic few minutes still to be played.

Late into injury time the Irish flyhalf went over the line and was awarded this controversial try by TMO Derek Bevan. After numerous replays, none of which were 100%
decisive, the try was awarded and the Italians were furious with the outcome.

There is an instant in one of the replays where MAYBE it looks like it went back off O'Gara's legs, then forward off the Italian and down, therefore legal. But in my opinion theres just way too much doubt for it to be awarded. Especially, as pointed out in one of the comments, after that forward pass by Trimble.

Italy scored again after that, but it was victory for the Irish, with the final score being 23 - 20.

Time: 05:05

There is no way that it was a try. He lost control of the ball, it went forward (over the line) and then he touched it down. The touch judge said it was a try, did he hear it from the t.m.o. or did he himself consider it to have been a try?

By Ruairí, at August 27, 2007 11:02 am
How on earth was that given?

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 11:07 am
Wtf? Where the fuck has rugby gone to? RWC 07 shirts are the gayest shirts ever. "Soft speartackles". England playing in red in their alternate shirts... Portugal who is into the RWC 07... WTF????

(srry 4 my bad english)
-Ka

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 12:10 pm
Im irish and i'm embarrassed that that was iven. Italy were robbed

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 12:13 pm
This comment has been removed by the author.

By Ennis, at August 27, 2007 12:24 pm
ball went bafckwards........ deal wif it.

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 1:21 pm
the ball went forwards its just o gara went over it, so every1 thinks the ball went backwards because he was in front of it when he dropped it, but thats coz he fell in front of it after he dropped it.

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 2:04 pm
That is a brilliant tackle by kaine robertson, completely ruined the try scoring opportunity, it is just a shame the referee thought otherwise

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 2:34 pm
To be perfectly fair the Italians did also impede an irish player from stopping the try they scored just minutes earlier.

But mostly that was a pretty dodge call and I actually think that Ireland were lucky.

Italy are becoming some serious contenders in World rugby, and if Mallet ends up coaching them, I think the home nations + France might need to watch themselves.

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 2:46 pm
it was a good tackle dis lodging the ball

but the ball did go backwards (so there was no knock on)

the ball was still free and o'gara grounded it so there for a try

Yes to touch judge heard it from the TMO

cause the ref was havin problems with his ear peice

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 5:03 pm
Mibak, i totally agree. Where the fuck has rugby gone to? I walked in to the pub last week and saw what I supposed was France vs Wales only to look closer and see it was in fact England. I grudgingly accept Italy (good game, guys), but Portugal? It's when they start fucking with rugby that you know the world is going to hell.

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 5:32 pm
Mibak, i totally agree. Where the fuck has rugby gone to? I walked in to the pub last week and saw what I supposed was France vs Wales only to look closer and see it was in fact England. I grudgingly accept Italy (good game, guys), but Portugal? It's when they start fucking with rugby that you know the world is going to hell.

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 5:34 pm
That is so harsh on Italy. The Argies were on the end of bad reffing against Wales as well. The underdogs, even strong ones like Italy need to be treated fairly, otherwise they'll go into the world cup knowing that the bigger nations are likely to get favourable results from the officials and it will be that much harder for them to bridge the gap.

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 8:03 pm
there was the seed of doubt in the decision... the tmo is there to remove any doubts the ref may have wen it comes to awarding the try, yet if the tmo had any doubt, and considerring he had to review it a million times then there was doubt!!! ball was dropped in the play and landed in the dead ball area following a carry by ogara, if thats not a knock on then i dont know what is... italy were robbed... plus ireland are meant to be one of the world's super powers in rugger, how do u justify them trailing to a team considerred to be amongst the minnows?? that call was a load of crap.

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 8:16 pm
listen i'm irish and i dont think that should have been given - ireland havent got a hope for the world cup, our fowards were completely destroyed in that match and if it wasnt for the backs, Italy would have won it. More worryingly for Ireland, we've got France and Argentina in the wordld cup, both of whom have huge packs

By Anonymous, at August 27, 2007 8:43 pm
to the dudes talking about Portugal in WC.
Teams like Italy were, in previouse editions, the underdogs in WC, now they are a decent team that gives to any oponent in Europe, a good fight.
I really dont understand all that bad talk about Portugal.
Rugby in Portugal is evoluting and this presence in the WC07 is the proof.
I wish that in 20 years Portugal can play at the same level then Italy now, and getting 25 amateur players borned in Portugal to the WC, where all players are professionals, is a fact of proud to portuguese like me.

I have no ilusions when it comes to the result of the game, but the gains internally to the sport are well whort of the effort that the Portuguese team will put on the field.
And that should be aknowledged by the rugby comunity all around the world.

By Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 2:16 am
totally agree with the above statement there's no harm in having more nations playing rugby, if they are good enough to qualify for the world cup let them play! it's a huge impact on their national game! i hope to see an rfc porto or someone along them lines in the heineken cup one day!

By Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 2:47 am
Whether or not that was a try (think it probably was on balance an ok decision) they should definitely have been called back for the forward pass to O'Gara that lead to it.

By fishboy, at August 28, 2007 4:47 am
I think we're going to see 3 TMOs for each game and they'll have to vote

By Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 10:36 am
why was he allowed to ground the ball when he was off his feet?

By Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 1:07 pm
it wasn't try cos the action started with a forward pass..anyway u made a mistake cos italy scored the try before of the controversial try and not after!!!

By Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 1:59 pm
You don't like the shirts?... fair enough

You don't think Portugal should be in the World cup? You are ignorant. They qualified... the world cup started ages ago. Any fan of rugby should applaud the growth and expansion of the game to other nations.

I'd like to see a huge overhaul in international rugby to expand it even further.

By Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 6:55 pm
"should definitely have been called back for the forward pass to O'Gara that lead to it."

They TMO can't do that.

By Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 6:58 pm
Unbelievable poor refereing there, italy was clearly robbed!

dear mibak and tim(flanker),

Portugal eliminated Russia, Morocco and Uruguai in order to be in RWC 07, you probably dont know that their entire squad is amateur, and that there are no infra structures in Portugal what so ever to support their achievements.

It's a team made out of students, lawyers, doctors and so on. They managed to qualify due to their great spirit of sacrifice and love for the sport.

Instead of regarding this fact as a decline of rugby, i think it would be wiser to cherish the fact that new nations are rising to the international stage, as a consequence of its expansion of popularity.
Your tipical conservative way of thinking towards rugby has restrained the sport for a long time, fortunately, things are starting to get better now, and you will either be convinced and embrace it or you will remain the rest of your life remembering about the good old days back when it was just the british nations playing the game in europe.

As far as I am concerned, Portugal's XV represents in fact the true spirit of the game, and we regard them as heroes, for all that they managed to overcome and accomplish.

Yours truly,

a portuguese rugger

By Anonymous, at August 29, 2007 3:21 am
I hope you're right moritz about Portugal representing the true spirit of the game. I really hope they don't start kissing each other or doing some gay moves after scoring a try...

We'll see @ the RWC ;-).

By Anonymous, at August 29, 2007 1:24 pm
Sigh.. Mibak.. You have such an immature view on rugby.. you shld just quit the game and dun be a disgrace to the game of rugby.. So naive and childish.. hope u grow up soon

By Anonymous, at August 29, 2007 5:44 pm
Those commentators are idiots. First of all, they had no idea what the TMO was looking for while replaying it over and over again, and then they couldn't work out why the try was legal.

Look at the side on clip towards the end of the video. The ball clearly goes backwards off ROG, until it hits his LEG, and pops over the try line for him to ground it. As far as I (and the IRB, of course) am concerned, you are still allowed to kick in Rugby.

By Anonymous, at August 30, 2007 2:30 pm
In fact I was wrong, I apologise... the ball clearly comes off the Italian's leg. It was a try; good call TMO.

By Anonymous, at August 30, 2007 2:33 pm
Anonymous, at August 28, 2007 6:58 PM
yeah, I know the TMO can't adjudicate on that - not his fault. Should have been picked up by the ref or linesman.

By fishboy, at August 31, 2007 5:24 am
i h8 ireland i hope NZ and SA batter the shit out of them in the RWC !!

By Anonymous, at September 03, 2007 12:43 pm
The Ref Was really biast towards italy before that incident giving away a try that was caused by obstruction. Da truth is it did go backwards and then bounced forwards over the line. TMO took lik 5 mins to confirm dat. Any way it was an amazing pass from andy trimble to get it to him in the first place. Trimbles one of the most underrated centers in the world comeing up to da world cup he will supreise a few people!!!!

By Anonymous, at September 05, 2007 8:26 pm
Errm, mate, Ive yet to see anything great from from mr A trimble...certainly nothing at the world cup prooved what you are saying...if anyone came of age in the RWC as a young centre it was Matthew Tait...but as for the video, no try. Definatly not. ITs hard to tell if he even grounds it, its hard to tell if ROG knocked on or if KR did, its hard to tell if the pass was forward...far too much doubt to be awarded.

By Anonymous, at October 28, 2007 1:09 pm
wait now i always tought it was a knock on, even tho me been irish, but look at it agian, look he gets tackled turns he loses control, the ball goes backwords, then hits either ogaras leg or the italinas legs nd brings it forward agian, and then ogara plants it,but there could as well been ofside by ogara if the itlain kicks it, im not sure, i think it could of been a 50% chance.

By tom, at November 08, 2007 9:29 pm
There is a lot of doubt over the try, sure, but, it is possible that o'Gara dropped the ball backwards after the tackle and then fell over the ball making it look like it went forward and I think it hit off Robertson's legs and then hit the ground before Roggie grounded it, therefore, legal.

By Anonymous, at November 26, 2007 10:40 pm
that guy doswent no wat he's on about. soft spear tackles??? he probly ent speared tackled sum1 in his life and portugal have got national league one players in their team so they ent that bad. quera for gloucetser used to be in national league 1

By Anonymous, at December 15, 2007 10:24 pm
But thr ball fall behind O'Gara ans het touch it after, It's difficult to say but I think the try is good

By Anonymous, at January 23, 2008 2:16 pm
Ball went backwards, try is good!

By Anonymous, at February 18, 2008 12:26 pm
Just to let all that think this was a knock on know you need to watch the replay from the side angle as the ball clearly went backwards and hit the italian players leg to go over the try line and into o'garas hand, so NO knock on and trie scored. Italy were not robbed at all.

By Anonymous, at February 20, 2008 10:33 pm
The reason for the try being awarded is clearly that the TMO believed that it came backwards off O'Gara (a close call which he was entitled to make, though I would always be inclined to give the defending side the benefit of the doubt), and hit Kaine Robertson's leg, before bouncing over the try line to be grounded. That is certainly legal, and I am surprised that the commentators did not pick up on that at all.

That of course does not detract from the fact that it was a magnificent covering tackle from Robertson, and he was desperately unlucky that the bounce of the ball went against him in that way.

By Anonymous, at February 26, 2008 11:35 pm
PORTUGAL HAD EVERY RIGHT TO BE IN RWC AND DESERVED IT!!!!! MOST OFF ALL THEY SHOWED THEIR COLORS AND MADE THEMSELVES OF WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE EVEN IF WE HAVE NO PROFESSIONALS OR GREAT (ALMOST NONE) RYUGBY TRADITION!

By Anonymous, at March 01, 2008 7:42 pm
I think this is a prime of why there should be try line camreas, it would mak evry tmo decision more clinical!

By Anonymous, at March 10, 2008 6:05 pm
Why is having new countries in the RWC a bad thing? I think rugby should be more popular to show what sport is about (unlike football which makes sport look like an excuse for fans to beat the crap out of each other). Now I am not saying that rugby should be as commercial as football (for heaven's sake, no, it will only ruin the game), but I'm from the Netherlands where Rugby is a small sport, which is really a shame.
So bassically, what I'm trying to say is, that having new (amateur) countries like Portugal in the RWC (or with a bit of luck the Netherlands in the next edition) isn't a bad thing, it will promote a nice, fair sport.

A Dutch Flanker/lock

By Anonymous, at March 12, 2008 9:14 pm
It was a try,Ronan knocked it back ,IT HIT OFF ROBERTSONS LEG ,went forward and ronan put his hand on it....simple.

By Anonymous, at June 04, 2008 5:18 pm
Tait better than trimble? Grow up.
He has played some amazing rugby and remained solid for 80 mins which is alot more than can be said for tait who can't handle this level of rugby.trimble, fitzgerald, duffy, readan, oconor, bowe and wallace secure irelands future back line.

By Unknown, at June 04, 2008 6:57 pm
it was a try.o'gara lost control but it went backwards.after it hit the ground he touched it down so it's a try

By Anonymous, at June 14, 2008 9:16 pm
I don't think anybody here understands the rule. The ball was dropped, it hit O'Gara's knee BEFORE it hit the ground. That is NOT a knock on. O'Gara then grounded the ball by placing his hand on it. That IS a try. And anyway, to those who say "Oh, Italy were robbed, it's so unfair", just cast your mind back to the few minutes before this try when Geordan Murphy was shoved off the ball he was running for. That resulted in a "try" but nobody took issue with that. Grow a set of balls, you whingy Italians

By Anonymous, at July 06, 2008 4:01 pm
Try.Pause at 1:48.The ball DOES GO BACK OFF O GARA'S LEGS.Then Forward off Kane Robertson & down, anyway IT WENT BACKWARDS.

By Anonymous, at October 05, 2008 5:21 pm
Where the fuck has rugby gone to? I walked in to the pub last week and saw what I supposed was France vs Wales only to look closer and see it was in fact England. I grudgingly accept Italy (good game, guys), but Portugal? It's when they start fucking with rugby that you know the world is going to hell.
because of people who thinks like that argentina doesnt have an international torunament

By Anonymous, at November 01, 2008 3:04 am
Mibak- what is your problem with new teams competing on the national stage, it shouldn't only be for about 15 teams, 4/5 of which are considered "minnows". It adds diversity and benefits all countries. Your narrow minded view sickens me.

By Anonymous, at June 22, 2009 9:43 pm
the start of bad things to come , would have been better to lose there , really looking forward to the future now irish rugby looks like its back on track and even stonger than before roll on November and the champs and the wallabies

By Anonymous, at July 30, 2009 2:00 pm
Im irish, and im pretty embarressed the ref gave it tbh :L Oh well, not complaining :)

By Anonymous, at September 13, 2009 6:25 pm
i'm italian and im glad of this comments.ty very much guys thats why rugby is the best sport in da world

By Anonymous, at September 23, 2009 2:04 pm