South Africa asked the International Rugby Board  for a ruling when two contradictory actions occur at the same time in in-goal.

Ruling Required

Law 22 – In goal.

Simultaneous grounding the ball in in-goal whilst making contact with the touch-in-goal line or dead ball line.

Scenario

A player carrying the ball attempts to score a try. In the process of grounding the ball in the in-goal according to the law, he simultaneously (at exactly the same time) touches the touch-in-goal line with an arm, leg or any part of his body.

Questions from above

1. Is a try scored?
2. Is the player in touch-in-goal?
3. Is an attacking scrum 5m from the goal line awarded.

Arguments

In (1) above, we believe this is incorrect but await IRB ruling. The TMO is undecided and therefore a try cannot be awarded.

In (2) above, we believe this will be correct – to draw a parallel with a similar incident in the field of play, but await IRB ruling.

In (3) above, we believe this will be incorrect as law 22.14 is only applicable when players from both teams are involved and there is doubt as to who grounded it first. In this scenario, there is no opposition player involved.

Ruling

The referee has stopped the game when the ball is in goal and has no evidence to award either a try or a 22 and therefore should award a scrum in accordance with Law 20 1 (c) which states:

20.1 (c) If there is an infringement or stoppage in in-goal, the place for the scrum is 5 metres from the goal line.

The simultaneous grounding of the ball in in-goal and touch-in-goal is not covered by Law. The team that was going forward before the stoppage would be awarded the throw in accordance with Law 20.4 (d) which states:

20.4 (d) Scrum after any other stoppage. After any stoppage or irregularity not covered by Law, the team that was moving forward before the stoppage throws in the ball.