Newcastle Falcons Vereniki Goneva had a try ruled out by referee Ian Tempest and it’s split the rugby world right down the middle.
Ugo Monye and Neil Back have supported the Fijian’s ‘streetwise’ dummy which had the Saracens team fooled, while others have come to the support of the match officials, who brought it back for a 22 dropout.
Watch the incident below and see how fans on social media have been reacting.
WATCH THE DUMMY HERE:
“I’ve always dreamed of doing this!”
Game value offence…
“That’s nonsense!”
Ugo Monye isn’t too impressed with the refs decision here 👇 pic.twitter.com/vxvqAhYedN
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) September 2, 2018
A better look at the Goneva dummy… pic.twitter.com/7CMl2gyfyX
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) September 2, 2018
SOCIAL REACTION REACTION:
Ref called for a 22 as he was fooled by the dummy too. He used that excuse to cover himself I think. Goneva did nothing wrong, but once the ref calls for a 22 the game is dead.
— Rugby Lads (@rugby_ladz) September 2, 2018
FWIW, Goneva tried a smart play, no issue with it, but the only person you dont want to fool with a dummy is the ref. Once “22” was called the play was dead.. #playtotheref goes both way.. @btsportrugby @premrugby @Saracens @FalconsRugby #NEWvSAR
— Ed H-B (@Moledozer) September 2, 2018
Erm, I guess the ref was duped but I don’t know how he could possibly see if Goneva was an inch short of grounding. You can’t go to tmo for every possible touch in goal. Just don’t know how refs can be expected to see that, even the video replay wasn’t conclusive.
— Bobby Bridge (@bobby_bridge) September 2, 2018
RE the Goneva thing – as soon as Ian Tempest calls 22, it’s dead ball. Regardless of whether he should have or not. End of matter.
— Matt (@MattySarrie) September 2, 2018
I don’t often disagree with @ugomonye, and maybe its because I’ve never played myself, but I just feel that Goneva went against the spirit of the rules there trying to be too clever with the ‘dummy’ grounding. Maybe its something teams need to prepare for in future now . . .
— Helen Ellis (@HJ_Ellis) September 2, 2018
— Neil Back MBE (@NeilBack) September 2, 2018
Nothing wrong with that. Should have stood.
— The Loose Head (@TheLooseH) September 2, 2018
I don’t get the logic of the problem with the Goneva ‘dummy’, does this mean that we should outlaw tries scored from ‘dummy’ kicks at goal? @andNickMullins @btsportrugby
— Ian Price (@goatteeboy) September 2, 2018
Well, Vereniki Goneva has just ran a missed drop-goal the length of the pitch but no, the referee has pulled that back to the Newcastle 22. Cue boos.
— Sean Douglass (@Sean_Douglass) September 2, 2018
Not sure how you can blame the referee here. If he’s to see that Goneva hasn’t touched this down, he has to be centimeters away.
Also, whether he’s correct or incorrect, as soon as he blows his whistle to give a 22, then it has to be a 22. End of. https://t.co/5bP9ZWUsD9
— Neil Treacy (@neil_treacy) September 2, 2018