Referees

Quote: Andy Gilder "On the second point

Andy, I think the rules can be a little unclear because of the situation of a player being 'out-of-play' at the ptb (as Webb was), can come back into play if the opinion of the ref the advantage of them being out of play was lost - "A player who is out of play may again take part in the game when the advantage gained by not retiring has been lost." If you take this statement out of the rules, it would be clear cut, but with it, it is the ref's or video ref's judgement that counts.

Now, in the case of Webb he did gain an advantage (in my eyes and the video refs) at being in an offside position at the ptb and the rules clearly state that Players who are out of play at a play-the-ball do not get automatically put onside - "Players who are out of play at a play-the-ball (Section 11)... are not
put “on side” in the manner described in para 3 above" with of course the para 3 reading as follows -

Placed onside
3. An off side player is placed onside if:
(a) an opponent moves ten metres or more with the
ball.
(b) an opponent touches the ball without retaining it.
(c) one of his own team in possession of the ball
runs in front of him.
(d) one of his own team kicks or knocks the ball
forward and takes up a position in front of him in
the field of play.
(e) he retires behind the point where the ball was last
touched by one of his own team.

So the video ref did get this correct in my opinion, but you have to acknowledge that this particular incident was maybe not as clear cut in the rules as you are arguing.