Rugby: Joe Moody miss hands Crusaders jackpot and puts spotlight back on officials

Crusaders prop Joe Moody has been banned for two games after striking NSW Waratahs centre Kurtley Beale. Photo / Twitter

The Crusaders weren't just fortunate to get away with Joe Moody's elbow on Kurtley Beale seconds before the prop scored the try which started their incredible comeback against the Waratahs, they won the jackpot.

All four officials missed it. Referee Ben O'Keeffe – who won few friends across the Tasman with his officiating during the 31-29 victory for the Crusaders – did. Assistant referees (touch judges to you and me) Jamie Nutbrown and Paul Williams did. So did television match official Aaron Paterson.

Clearly, it was relatively difficult to spot. Moody's collision with second-five Beale was off the ball (which was passed behind the All Black loosehead to first-five Richie Mo'unga, who went through the gap left by the absent Beale, who was sprawled on the ground), but Moody was the main beneficiary when he received Mo'unga's pass and went over for the first of the Crusaders' five tries at AMI Stadium.

The Crusaders' win extended New Zealand's winning streak over their Australian rivals to 39 matches, but the Aussie ire shouldn't be directed at O'Keeffe for this one. Paterson – the man in front of the television screen away from the pitch – should have spotted it, and if he had Moody's try would have been rubbed out and he would probably have been red-carded.

The home side's scrum would have been depowered for the rest of the match which would have made their comeback even tougher. In the second half the Crusaders won a penalty try for a collapsed scrum on the Waratahs' line.

It's the television match official's job to spot these acts of foul play, especially in the build-up to a try. After every try the TMO will tell the referee via his earpiece "the try is good", or otherwise.

The Crusaders could also make a case for asking why Curtis Rona's try was awarded when he appeared to be a metre in front of kicker Beale in the direct lead-up. Then again, they were perhaps lucky to get away with a potential tip-tackle in the final seconds of the match when they were desperately hanging on.

There are several other factors to consider when judging the missing of the Moody act of foul play, for which he has been suspended for two weeks.

The first is, and this is counter-intuitive I know, all the match officials missed it. That wasn't the case when Brumbies wing Chance Peni knocked Israel Dagg into Disneyland a couple of weeks ago during the Crusaders win in Canberra.

Peni's act in smacking Dagg across the face with a forearm as the Crusaders wing leaped for a high ball happened directly in front of an assistant referee. Referee Jaco Peyper then viewed it several times on the big screen and agreed with the TMO that there was "no excessive force" used. Dagg went off for a concussion test and re-injured his troublesome right knee.

Peni was banned for five weeks and I would argue that the officials' misjudgment of this one was an act of incompetence far worse than the Moody miss.

The other factor to think about is how lucky the Crusaders were to be playing at home. If they were anywhere else – and particularly in Australia or South Africa – an eagle-eyed television producer is likely to have spotted it and the replay would have been shown ad nauseum on the big screen, attracting the attention of first the home crowd and then the officials.

The try would then have been ruled out and the Crusaders placed in serious trouble.

The Crusaders were extremely lucky and they will know it. So are the All Blacks - the two-week ban will still allow Moody to play against France next month.