Six Nations: Scottish Rugby call on governing body to admit officials got try decision wrong

Murrayfield bosses write to World Rugby with concerns over match-defining moment

Referee Nic Berry checks to see if Sam Skinner's try has been grounded.

Scottish Rugby are seeking a public admission from World Rugby that an error was made in failing to award Scotland a match-winning try in the final moments of Saturday's Six Nations loss to France.

The BBC report that the SRU has made the governing body aware of concerns it has over the sequence of events that led to an apparent U-turn by match officials as Scotland were consigned to a 20-16 defeat at Murrayfield.

Sam Skinner looked to have secured the hosts a dramatic victory in the 80th minute when referee Nic Berry indicated he was set to reverse his on field decision that no try had been scored after TMO Brian MacNeice advised video replays showed Skinner had, in fact, grounded the ball as he powered over the French line.

However, MacNeice then appeared to backtrack, citing a lack of conclusive evidence, leading Berry into a change of direction as he stuck with his original decision to the dismay of the Scotland players and head coach Gregor Towsend.

"I don't know why he changed his decision," Townsend said afterwards. "We were celebrating in the coaching box, having seen the pictures of the ball being placed on the try line after it was on the player's foot." Scotland co-captains Finn Russell and Rory Darge were also adamant a try had been scored – a viewpoint shared by many pundits and observers who felt Scotland had been robbed of victory.

While the SRU are keen to avoid sour grapes, the organisation feel that the integrity of the tournament was compromised and, keen to have their voice heard, have called on World Rugby to admit that a costly mistake was made.

A BBC source close to the matter said: "The dialogue between the referee and the TMO made no sense.

"The message from the SRU was articulated in the sense that there are concerns about why this happened. There is a need for lessons being learned so that it never happens again. This is not about Scottish Rugby being belligerent. It would be good if there was a statement saying that having had time to reflect and review the video evidence what happened was wrong."