Connacht boss Pat Lam was reeling in fury last night following a call to award Leinster a try that ultimately sealed their win and committed Connacht to a second successive defeat.
The 13-0 loss brings Connacht's 2015 year to a dour end, having lost four out of five games which leaves them sitting in third position on the table at the start of the new year.
Leinster's Josh van der Flier leapt for over Leinster's line to snatch the 60th minute try but was adjudged by the Connacht contingent to have failed in grounding the ball.
Referee George Clancy slipped momentarily as the scramble at the line took place and subsequently conferred with the TMO. Rather than ask the traditional 'try or no try' question, Clancy is heard to have said, 'Is there any reason I cannot award the try?'
Remarking on the moment, Lam said:
'There's two questions to ask - 'try or no try', or 'any reason not to give the try', and the latter is when they're pretty sure they've seen a try. My boys are adamant it was held up'
Watched recording late but #Connacht got raw deal on key referring decisions v Leinster. How was try given? And Kearney's blatant knock on?
— Matt Cooper (@cooper_m) January 1, 2016
"There were some courageous defence from the team, and a big call, a big call made. We've to live with that, but at 10-0 it's an uphill battle. Definitely it is a harsh decision because what that is saying is that he clearly saw the grounding and if you go back and look at the video he is sliding along the ground.
"So if you clearly see a grounding then that is the protocol, you are just going back to see if there was something beforehand. If the question was 'try or no try?' then that's a different question for the TMO.
"Our players were obviously frustrated because they felt he was short and that they had hands under the ball. That's what we have to live with, but it certainly wasn't conclusive that it was grounded. That's game done there and we have to move on".
Elsewhere, Leinster boss Leo Cullen reported that he agreed with the call from the referee.
"It was definitely a try in my eyes. From my vantage point, I thought, 'It's a try!'"
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
