The 31-year-old flyhalf on Tuesday night gave supporters a reason to cheer at the drenched Newlands stadium when he ensured that the Emerging Springboks drew 13-13 with the tourists.

But immediately after the match there was a scramble to establish if the touring team had suffered an injustice.

Journalists approached André Watson, South Africa’s chief referee about the kick. Watson admitted that he had his doubts about whether it was a valid kick and therefore studied visual footage.

The footage appeared to be contradictory but it was finally deduced, partly from the body language of the Lions, that the kick was valid.

“I watched it on Tuesday night in slow motion. With the shot from behind, you are looking for a moment when you see the ball and the posts disappear. You get it on two shots,” said Watson.

“What is absurd, is that you are looking from the other corner if the ball disappeared behind the posts. It doesn’t happen, but it could perhaps only be because the image loses focus on the replay.”

“The answer probably lies with the linesmen who called it. The shoulders of one of the Lions players started hanging right before the flags were lifted and he stood behind one of the linesmen, which is a further indication that the kick was valid.”

But what does the humble general of the Western Province himself think about his kick. “It was comfortably there. I don’t know why it took them so long to call it,” said De Waal.

“Do you think I would have carried on like that if I had missed?”

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za