Only if you don't know the laws.


Was the player attempting to field a kick? - Yes
Was he in mid-air? - Yes
Did the opponent attempt to tackle him? - Yes

The only area for any debate would be the weak argument that he wasn't tackling, he was contesting for the ball. You don't contest for the ball with your arms around the sides of the opponent.

The argument that the ball had already gone doesn't hold water, you can't dispute that the player in mid-air was attempting to field a kick. The fact that he did so badly is not relevant. A definite penalty, and the correct call.

But if the ball is clearly on the ground, which it was, then surely a try has to be awarded. You can't say "Well the ball was on the ground, but it was a pretty good defensive effort to try and stop it so we won't give the try."

We had a few last season.

There's a difference between the ball, clearly being on the ground and how it got there.
you can't just award a try because the ball is on the ground, or at least in my opinion you can't, but it seems anything goes these days.

King went into the challenge and for the line with full possession of the ball and shortly after the ball could clearly be seen on the ground. There was absolutely no evidence whatsoever that King had at any time lost control of the ball and I'm assuming, because he awarded the try, that the referee at no point called held. Maybe it was a great effort by the Catalan players to prevent the try, but it wasn't enough. Having the try awarded by Child before being passed up there was absolutely nothing the VR could have seen to disallow it.

You suggest that good defence should be rewarded, but shouldn't a good, strong, determined and ultimately successful attempt to ground the ball be rewarded too?

both defence and attack should be rewarded, but when there is no evidence that he actually grounded the ball then, the defending side should get the B.O.D, for me, anyway.