As he was unconscious after the impact yet scored he couldn't have been more in the act of scoring a try.

Touching down for a try means just that - touching down. Tomkins wasn't doing this.

Where have you pulled the phrase 'act of scoring' from?

The rules certainly don't mention this. They are concerned with the player 'touching down'.

So does touching down for a try refer to the ball being in conatct with the floor, or the player being in the act of placing the ball down (ie touching it down for a try)? In my opinion (which could well be wrong) diving to place the ball on the ground would be the act of touching the ball down for a try?

The only 8 point trys ive seen have been given when the player has been fouled after the ball has been grounded

I refer again to the rules
This law applies to the period during which the ball is touched down for a try and not to any subsequent period.[/i

The ball must be touched down, not simply an attempt to ground the ball, such as diving.

This doesn't surprise me. It's very hard to judge, it's a split-second call.

agree, there is more than one way to touch a ball down, the fact sam still did touch down showed his method was pretty secure!

Stop acting like they sprinkle magic dust on you when you become a ref. You know as well as I do that match officials will be arguing over the interpetation of this at the next meeting just like we are now. There haven't been many 8 point tries given in SL, so there's no precident, so there's plenty room for debate.

He did very well indeed. At first I thought he'd dislocated his shoulder aswell.

All I am saying is that this rule is probably one of the least used. Today's incident was unsavoury but the law only applies to tryscorers being fouled when the ball has been grounded.

With this rule, the only interpretation is how long after the ball being grounded can a player be fouled and be awarded an 8 point try. Tomkins was fouled before touching the ball down and therefore is not eligible. It is that simple.

Fair enough, it seems that Ganson was technically correct in not awarding the 8 point try then. Although I still think that is daft, a player being knocked out in the process of scoring the try (as he clearly was as he managed to ground it) should be awarded with an 8 point try.

It doesn't need to be after the ball is down. It's made for situations like this where the player is definitely going to score so the opposition player hits him with a cheap shot. FWIW I think the Myler one where Joel went in with the knees should have been an 8 point try too

I agree, it is a little silly. I'd prefer it if the rule was opened up a little to include incidents like today's.

Well with respect you're wrong, the ball does need to be down.