Wallabies review missed conversion

Wallaby wing James O’Connor is in no doubt that he will ask for a re-kick should an All Black break early in an attempt to charge down one of his conversion attempts in the semi-final against New Zealand on Sunday.

The Australians have reviewed an incident from their quarter-final win over South Africa where Springboks' wing JP Pietersen prematurely charged O’Connor as he prepared to attempt a conversion of James Horwill’s 11th-minute try.

After being told to retreat by referee Bryce Lawrence, Pietersen jogged out of the way, only for O’Connor to subsequently miss the kick.

“I didn’t notice it too much - my focus is clearly on the ball. But if it happens again, we’ve spoken about it, and I’ll be taking a re-kick,” the 21-year-old Wallaby said.

The incident would no doubt have attracted greater scrutiny if Australia’s two-point winning margin against South Africa had instead been the margin of defeat.

Distinctive routine

But the Wallabies managed to survive the match 11-9, so they can afford to live and learn from the experience.

The difficulty they face is that O’Connor’s distinctive pre-kick routine begins with a foot movement that could be easily mistaken as the start of his approach to the ball.

Tellingly, JP Pietersen is not the only opponent at Rugby World Cup 2011 to have been fooled.

A similar incident occurred in Australia’s Pool C clash with Russia, when a Bears’ player mistimed his attempted charge down and O’Connor suffered his only missed conversion from his 10 attempts for the match.

The Laws of Rugby state that no player of the team that has conceded a try may cross their own try-line to prevent the conversion attempt until the kicker begins their approach to the ball.

If there is an infringement of this rule and the kick misses, the referee is obliged to allow another conversion attempt.

In neither match did the Australians approach the referee to request a re-take of the kick but this is now set to change.

“Obviously James (O’Connor) is closer to the action, so he'll ask. But if that doesn't work then I'll ask the question,” captain Horwill said.

“It is stated in the rules that he is allowed if he wants it."