1. Rugby’s Only Ever “Own Try”
If you watch football you are likely to see a player accidently put the ball into their own net every once in a while, resulting in an own goal being awarded. In rugby however there is no such equivalent. If the defending player touches the ball down in his own try area it leads to either a 22-metre drop-kick or a 5-metre scrum (depending on which team brought the ball into the try area in the first place) and no points are awarded. Except in the video above…
This incident takes place in the match between Australian sides North Harbour Rays and Sydney Stars. The referee is unsighted as the ball gets touched down behind the try-line and so, unsure what to award, he does what all good referees do under the circumstances and asks his TMO (television match official for those of you not familiar with rugby) to review the replay and tell him what had happened.
Whilst the yellow sleeves at the Rays’ shirts may have proved misleading on the first viewing, repeated viewings made things very clear that Rays’ player Mitch Lewis was the player to touch the ball back behind his own line for what should have resulted in a 5-metre scrum to the Stars. Despite the repeated viewings however this was completely missed by the TMO who assumed the yellow-sleeved arm that touched the ball down belonged to a Stars player, and so he awarded the try. And there you have it, rugby’s first and only ever “own try” was scored. The reaction of the commentator just about says it all.