Referee JP Doyle was straight into the action in today’s eagerly anticipated East Midlands Derby between the Leicester Tigers and the Northampton Saints at Twickenham.
Saints’ Jamie Gibson got the first try of the game and he has Doyle to thank for going through the effort of viewing the grounding.
The Saints were about a metre out from the Tigers’ line and Gibson picked and went from the base of a ruck but on initial viewing, it looked like he was held up.
Enter Irish referee Doyle who put his head straight into a pile of bodies to check on the grounding and it’s clear that what he saw was good enough as he awarded the try almost immediately.
JP Doyle that is QUALITY ??
He awards the try by digging his head into a crowd of players.
Brilliant refereeing! pic.twitter.com/csq2FYr4x4
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) October 6, 2018
Generally, when we see a situation like this, most referees will just award a 5m scrum to the attacking team so it’s good to see Doyle go the extra mile here.
Read More About: Gallagher Premiership 2018/2019, leicester tigers, northampton saints
