Watch it at full speed - not slow motion. Of course it was a penalty try.

regardless of the lack of intention in luke lewis' knees, is it not clear that going in with the knees is wreckless play, which is quite often penalised?

Hall's previous 3 tries in this series, all much harder finishes than last night's would suggest that without the headshot the try would have been pretty well nailed on.
I also think Thurston knew this. I don't believe a player of his intelligence, sharpness and ability would commit that type of tackle unless he was pretty certain there was no other way to stop Hall.

I've read some e on these forums but this takes the biscuit!!

Thurston made no attempt to tackle Hall and instead committed a blatant foul in an attempt to prevent the try; had Hall not been fouled, there is no doubt he would have put the ball down cleanly.

Lewis compounded it by sliding in with his knees - again, no attempt at a legal tackle, just a foul to prevent the try.

Not sure how you sort all that out, but Thurston should have walked - the fact that he did the same thing to Tomkins later in the game was just sticking two fingers up at the gutless ruling body that allows the Aussies to pick their own ref.

It was a clear-cut penalty try.

Thurston should have been sin-binned.

We still would have lost.

So you are happy to see deliberate attacks to the head in RL ?

It wasn't a penalty try. The Aussie media are spewing about it too.

Good job the video ref isn't an idiot as well. I must have missed the directive that the opinions of biased Australian commentators mean anything more than jack sh*t.



Clear penalty try and at least 10 minutes for Thurston. Williams and Thurston throw 2 blatant head shots and get nothing. Weak officiating in the face of the usual ocker bitching about referees.

Who gives a f*k what Australian journalists think?

(see Cronus's post above)

It makes me laugh when people insist it must be a "certain" try for the referee to give the decision when there's no such word in the relevant section of the laws.

The Sky commentators are as bad as anyone for this.

Maybe it's time allow biting and eye gouging in RL ?

...so a penalty try is only valid if the Australian media say it is? I thought it was the match officials who made such rulings, not the members of the press!

Had hall not been slowed down by getting his head taken off and then his head smashed into the thigh of lewis it would have been a run of the mill try for hall!

Spot on. More posters need to read this.