End of Wales vs Austalia

OK - a new query for you qualified refs.

Australia scored a try in the last minute. Giteau takes a drop kick, which misses, with about 5s on the clock. By the time Wales reach the halfway line, we are in overtime.

Two Qs:

Was the ref right in not blowing up, and insisting that we re-start? (I assume 'Yes' to this).

A harder one - I THINK that the Welsh players asked the ref if it would be OK to kick the ball directly into touch from the kick-off - normally, this would lead to a scrum being awarded, which in extra time would be the end of the game. I believe that the ref told them that he would consider this to be 'foul play' (or something) and would give the Aussies a penalty. Was he right to do so?

What if the players had NOT asked the ref at all, and Stevo had 'accidentally on purpose' drop kicked it so that it JUST cleared the touchline (say, at a height where a jumper could go for the ball, but fall slightly short? )  I assume in this case the ref would have had to blow for full time, unless he claimed to be a mind-readed. What do you think?

scarletman wrote: 1) There was still time on the clock when the Referee ordered the Re-Start albeit 5 seconds (The restart is signalled at the time that either the successful or unsuccessful conversion is indicated by the Referee.) If the time had expired when the ball was signalled dead (as a miss) the Game would have been over.   2) Technically the the ball kicked directly into touch from a kick off, results in 3 choices to the receiving team, a) To have the kick off again b) To have a scrum at the Centre mark c) Accept the kick. (Lineout on the Halfway line).   Had Stevo kicked directly to touch to end the game, this would fall under IRB Law 10.4 (k)   Act Contrary To Good Sportsmanship .. A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship in the playing enclosure Penalty - Penalty Kick

Thanks for that - I thought the ref said something along those lines to the Wales players (who were understandably keen to kick the ball dead) - but it was hard to hear his exact words.

What we did worked OK in the end (a deep kick) - maybe we should have kicked it just over the 10m line and near touch, and put all the forwards in to push them over the sideline.

triage wrote: scarletman wrote:   Had Stevo kicked directly to touch to end the game, this would fall under IRB Law 10.4 (k)   Act Contrary To Good Sportsmanship .. A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship in the playing enclosure Penalty - Penalty Kick Would it not be the case that the game had not restarted properly and therefore that phase would need to be completed by either of the three options? I.E. a kick directly into touch from the kick off would not be deemed a successful restart?