Former Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman will recommend to World Rugby that they change the law around knock-ons at the end of games.
His comments come after Munster’s encounter with Leinster concluded when Rieko Ioane knocked the ball on while completing a tackle.
It was not deliberate and the visitors were able to recover possession, meaning that the home side did not gain an advantage from Ioane’s actions with the referee – correctly in the laws of the game – blowing the final whistle.
That is not an unusual occurrence, with many matches down the years ending the same way, but it doesn’t make it any better in the eyes of Jackman.
The ex-Leinster forward feels that it is an unsavoury way to conclude a contest, particularly when there is less than a converted try between the teams.
Leo Cullen’s men were 13-8 ahead when the clock hit the red and Munster spent the next two minutes attacking deep inside the opposition half.
They got themselves inside the 22 and were threatening to earn a dramatic late victory, but Ioane’s intervention relieved the pressure.
Looking to convince World Rugby
Jackman therefore hopes World Rugby changes that law and has stated that he will propose that amendment when meeting with the governing body’s bigwigs.
“We saw it during the Women’s World Cup. It doesn’t happen all the time but particularly when it’s a one-score game, I see no reason why we couldn’t restart with a scrum [to the attacking team] there,” he told the RTE Rugby podcast.
“I’m part of a global alliance to look at the laws of the game with World Rugby and it’s on my notebook.
“It wasn’t just from the other night, it’s been on my notebook for a while. Fans get short-changed by it a little bit.
“We stop the games for other things so it leaves a bit of a sour taste. I know that was an accidental one but it just changes the defender’s mindset a little bit.”
That loss for Munster was just their second of the campaign after a promising start under new boss Clayton McMillan, but they followed it up with a disastrous performance in their second interpro of the festive period.
McMillan’s men were hammered 28-3 in the United Rugby Championship by Ulster in Belfast as they dropped below Friday’s opponents in the table and sit sixth after the weekend.
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