Penalty try?

The Sharks attack to the left and have substantial overlap. Stefan Terblanche runs freely and some 25 metres from the line there is only Kurtley Beale of the Waratahs in front of him. On Terblanche's right is speedster Ryan Kankowski, who had raced 40 metres or more for a try earlier in the match.

Terblanche passes to his right. It looks a good pass but Beale rapidly stretches out a left hand and knocks the ball forward and into touch.

The referee sends Beale to the sin bin and awards a penalty to the Sharks who are incensed because they believe that should have been awarded a penalty try.

A penalty try from 30 metres out? The law says nothing about the distance from the line. The pass towards Kankowski was a good one. Kankowski had nobody in front of him and is a player of speed and strength. It was, of course, possible that Kankowski would have knocked on but it was probable that he would not. Anyway he did not get a chance to test it because of Beale intervention.

Law 10.2 UNFAIR PLAY

(a) Intentionally Offending. A player must not intentionally infringe any Law of the Game, or play unfairly. The player who intentionally offends must be either admonished, or cautioned that a send off will result if the offence or a similar offence is committed, or sent off. After a caution a player is temporarily suspended for a period of ten minutes playing time. After a
caution, if the player commits the same or similar offence, the player must be sent off.
Sanction: Penalty Kick
A penalty try must be awarded if the offence prevents a try that would probably otherwise have been scored. A player who prevents a try being scored through foul play must either be cautioned and temporarily suspended or sent off.

With the help of slow motion and that sort of thing, It would seem that the referee should have awarded a penalty. It was an important decision. With three minutes to go, the Sharks were down 25-21. It was a try which could have won them the match.

Commentator Rod Kafer, the former Wallaby, said with an amount of joy when another commentator's mentioned that Beale had not been long on the field but he had made an impact: "It was a good impact, because that was a try."

Kafer clearly believed that try would probably have been scored. Claims that Beale was trying to catch the ball stretch credulity.

If the television match official's powers were extended, that would be just the sort of thing it could be used for. But the status quo on the TMO remains at least till after the 2011 World Cup.