Referee Christophe Ridley was forced to reverse a decision during Sale Sharks’ clash with Harlequins after confusion over a new World Rugby rule.
The incident came in the 71st minute, shortly after Sale had won a penalty. The TMO asked Ridley to review an earlier tackle by Sale fly-half George Ford on Harlequins back-row Chandler Cunningham-South.
Ford was judged to have made a “hip drop” tackle, using his bodyweight to bring Cunningham-South to ground. Ridley initially awarded Harlequins a penalty for the offence.
World Rugby announced the rule change earlier this week, adding hip drop tackles to the foul play laws.
“The ‘hip drop’ tackle, where a tackler uses their bodyweight to pull a player to ground and drops onto the legs of a ball carrier from behind, will be explicitly added to foul play law and will be sanctioned with at least a penalty kick,” World Rugby stated.
“The ‘knee drop’ tackle, where a player drops to one or both knees before making a tackle, will be highlighted to players, coaches and match officials as an action already covered in law and can also be sanctioned with a penalty.”
However, the new ruling does not come into force until November 1.
After speaking with Ernst van Rhyn, Ridley realised his decision had been based on a law that was not yet in effect.
He admitted the mistake and overturned the penalty, returning play to Sale’s original penalty award.
The ref mic picked up Ridley jokingly saying, "So many law changes in the game, I can't keep up."
The decision proved costly for Harlequins. Just two minutes later, Sale crossed the line for a penalty try to take their first lead of the match, with less than 10 minutes remaining.
It proved to be the winner, with Sale winning 28-24 at the CorpAcq Stadium.
The incident was not the only unusual moment for Ridley during the match.
A scrum in the 76th minute led to further confusion after Harlequins hooker Sam Riley was sent to the sin bin and replacement hooker Jack Walker suffered an injury.
With no suitable replacement available, Harlequins had to remove another player to ensure the uncontested scrum could continue safely.
The unusual situation left the officials with another tricky decision to manage during a tense finish.
