It’s fair to say the new law trials currently being used in the Rainbow Cup haven’t exactly been welcomed across the board and the closing stages of Leinster’s win over Ulster produced another curious incident.
An exciting finale saw both teams throw caution to the wind in a bid to score a late try. In Leinster’s case, one that would have secured a valuable bonus point, while Ulster went in search of a try to snatch victory.
In the end, neither side got what they wanted, but just after referee Mike Adamson had blown for full-time, Luke McGrath attempted to use his captain’s challenge.
The official wording of the law trial states as follows:
The captains challenge will be applied more broadly from the 75-minute mark in any match at which point the captain, provided they have not already lost their challenge, can use it to check any whistled decision regardless of whether a try has been scored.
As McGrath went to use his captain’s challenge, referee Adamson disregarded his request, seemingly due to his belief that the relevant information had been passed onto the Leinster skipper by a member of the non-playing backroom team.
Lukey was trying to get a captain’s challenge in for a high tackle I think, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen said after his side’s 21-17 win.
Again, the captain’s challenge is proving challenging, I think it’s fair to say. And distracting.
So yeah, I still don’t know what the process is. I didn’t talk to the referee anyway so I’ll go and ask, because I’m not even sure myself.
As we know, I think it’s having a few teething issues. I’ll ask the question as to what is the correct process.
I know Lukey was trying to ask the referee at the end. A high tackle was what he wanted to get checked, which I thought would have been okay to get checked. Obviously not.
With players, coaches and many supporters alike struggling to get to grips with this law trial, it remains to be seen if it will be kept beyond the end of the Rainbow Cup.
Earlier in the game at the RDS, Iain Henderson used his captain’s challenge for an alleged high tackle by Robbie Henshaw on Robert Baloucoune.
Henshaw’s big hit certainly merited a closer look by the referee, yet it was somewhat of a surprise that Henderson had to call for it rather than the TMO intervening in the first place.
Henderson was clearly baffled by the referee’s decision not to punish his Ireland and Lions team-mate, who went off for a HIA which he later passed.
Dan McFarland felt man-of-the-match Henshaw was lucky not to have spent 10 minutes in the bin, but he did not cry foul over the incident.
“I couldn’t hear what Mike Adamson said,” the Ulster head coach said.
“The view that we have, it looked to me that there’d been a collision with the body and up to the head which should have been a yellow card, however, I’m not privy to all the angles. I wasn’t watching that closely.
“Mike made the decision and it is what it is. I don’t think it was decisive anyway but it meant that we lost our captain’s challenge which was disappointing.”
The stated aim of the law trials is to allow for positive play and enhanced decision-making outcomes.
However, as Cullen put it, the teething issues are causing plenty of headaches for everyone.
Meanwhile, Leinster will assess Dave Kearney after the winger picked up a quad injury in the first-half of his side’s win, while Jimmy O’Brien will be monitored after failing to return for the second-half after the full-back underwent a HIA.
Ross Byrne was managing a quad issue, hence why Garry Ringrose took on the kicking responsibilities all night.
In more positive news, Caelan Doris got through 80 minutes of his return to action unscathed.
