‘Clearly not the right decision’ - Gregor Townsend, his 1994 flashback and how Scotland suffered death by television

The morning after the night before will have brought little solace for Gregor Townsend as he replayed in his mind the moment Sam Skinner plunged over the French line for what would have been a last-gasp winning try at Murrayfield.

The Scotland coach is utterly convinced the call by referee Nic Berry and TMO Brian MacNeice to not award the score was the wrong one. “It was clearly not the right decision they came to in the end,” he said.

The officials took nearly five minutes and countless reruns to make up their minds and eventually decided there was not enough conclusive evidence to say it was a try, meaning France held on to win 20-16.

“Death by television,” was BBC commentator Andrew Cotter’s vivid description, and while the result doesn’t kill Scotland’s Six Nations title hopes they will certainly need to beat England in Edinburgh in round three to stay in the fight.

The decision dominated the weekend, leaving Townsend with a deep sense of injustice but helpless to do anything about it. “We wuz robbed” has been a common enough theme in Scottish sport down the years but it’s hard to feel anything but sympathy for the Scotland coach over the way Berry and MacNeice managed to talk themselves out of awarding the try.

While the ball was initially held up on a French player’s boot, it was then grounded. With Murrayfield in a ferment, Berry’s on-field decision was ‘no try’ before he went to consult with the TMO.As several replays were shown on the big screen, MacNeice told Berry: “The ball is held up for now, and there is the ball on the ground.”

Berry replied: “OK Brian, so you're saying that the ball is initially on the foot and then it is gone and grounded in-goal so I need to change my decision to a try?”

Crucially, MacNeice then appeared to nurse doubts. “Nic, I just need definitive evidence of the ball on the ground,” he said. “I need to go back out to that angle. Can I clearly see the ball on the ground?

Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu, with arm raised, celebrates what he thinks is the winning try but Sam Skinner's effort against France was ruled out. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

“It’s on the foot here at the moment, Nic. Just rock and roll that once more please,” he adds, asking for another replay. “I cannot say for certain, I don’t have clear enough ball on ground, Nic.”

In that moment the result turned back in France’s favour, with Berry now feeling unable to change his original decision

“OK.... because you don't have conclusive evidence I need to stick with my on-field decision, is that right?” the referee asked.

MacNeice has one more look before replying in the affirmative, leaving Berry to explain to Scotland co-captain Rory Darge and France’s Charles Ollivon that it was “no try”.

From left, France's Charles Ollivon and Scotland's Rory Darge, Finn Russell and Andy Christie wait for the TMO decision at Murrayfield alongside match referee Nic Berry. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

The verdict was greeted with boos and as Townsend later reflected on the tortuous process at which it had been arrived he batted away a suggestion that more should be done to take the decision out of the referee’s hands and into those of the TMO.

“They’ve got quite a big screen in that corner so it should be the referee who decides, but whatever is the actual correct decision,” said the coach. “I don’t think I’m being biased here to say the ball was put over the tryline, I think everybody sees that.

“It’s how we get to the correct decision. If it was held up and we’re here going ‘we’re gutted, we’ve been held up to win a game’ then that would have been the right decision but it was clearly not the right decision they came to in the end.”

Townsend dismissed the notion that he would use the sense of injustice to galvanise his players for the England game, pointing out that this was a fixture that required no extra motivation. But he did reference the infamous 1994 Calcutta Cup match when Scotland were denied by the so-called ‘Hand of Rob’. On that occasion, Townsend looked to have sealed a famous victory with a late drop goal only for Scotland centre Ian Jardine to be penalised for handling in the ruck. Footage appeared to suggest it was actually England's Rob Andrew, with the dark blue cuffs on the England jerseys of the time fooling the referee. Jon Callard kicked the subsequent penalty and England won 15-14. A distraught Gavin Hastings, Scotland's captain, broke down when being interviewed by Dougie Donnelly after the match.

Hastings was sitting just in front of the coaches’ box on Saturday and went through the same agonies as everyone else in the stadium. For Townsend, the pain will linger but he is hopeful his players can move on more swiftly than he did.

“For some reason I had flashbacks to 1994 when we lost in the last minute of the game,” he said. “I think the players move on much quicker than us coaches. We have to go through the video and we’ve looked at it a few times in the changing room and we obviously lived it live, the decision and the discussion around the decision. You don’t want to get into it too much because it’s the same outcome: we lost and the try wasn’t awarded.

“I think we’ll look at how we could have been more ahead at half-time and how we should not have let France have an opportunity to win the game - that’s the things we’ll take from it. I thought the team’s game management and the collective mentality was brilliant, something they’ve been working on. The decision-making around where to put France under pressure was spot on.

“In terms of the leaders. I thought Finn [Russell] had one of his best games for Scotland and Rory was outstanding, he brought physicality. So there are a lot of positives but obviously it would have been brilliant to have the victory but that wasn’t the case.”

Scotland had gone ahead after seven minutes through an excellent team try, finished by scrum-half Ben White. Russell converted and went on to kick three penalties and, although France kept in touch with a try from Gael Fickou and a conversion and penalty from Thomas Ramos, Scotland retained their lead until the 72nd minute. A brilliant solo score by French wing Louis Bielle-Biarrey turned the game and Ramos’ conversion nudged France ahead. The full-back then added a penalty to make it 20-16 going into the final moments. Scotland needed a try and Skinner thought he had got it after the home side had done superbly to steal the ball through Russell following a stunning run from Kyle Rowe. But it was not to be. Defeat had never felt so painful.

Scorers: Scotland: Try: White. Con: Russell. Pens: Russell 3. France: Tries: Fickou, Bielle-Biarrey. Cons: Ramos 2. Pens: Ramos 2.

Yellow card: Antonio (Fra, 36min).

Scotland: H Paterson; K Rowe, H Jones (C Redpath 76), S Tuipulotu, D van der Merwe; F Russell, B White; P Schoeman (A Hepburn 72), G Turner (E Ashman 17-28; 68), Z Fagerson, G Gilchrist (S Skinner 74, S Cummings, M Fagerson (A Christie 40), R Darge, J Dempsey. Replacements not used: E Millar-Mills, G Horne, B Healy.

France: T Ramos; D Penaud, G Fickou, J Danty (Y Moefana 62), L Bielle-Biarrey (D Aldegheri 37-48); M Jalibert, M Lucu (N Le Garrec, 49); C Baille (S Taofifenua 58), P Mauvaka (J Marchand 48), U Antonio (D Aldegheri 58), C Woki (P Tuilagi 49), P Gabrillagues (A Roumat 49), F Cros, C Ollivon, G Alldritt (P Boudehent, 49).

Referee: Nic Berry (Aus).