The Crusaders played the Sharks in Durban. Justin Marshall was playing scrumhalf for the Crusaders. Peter Marshall of Australia was refereeing the match.

There was a scrum to the Sharks 5m or so from the Crusaders' line just to the left of the posts as the Sharks looked at them. Peter the Referee was on the side of the scrum where the ball was being put in. So was Justin the scrumhalf.

Craig Davidson of the Sharks fed the scrum and they heeled the ball. Brad McLeod-Henderson, a big strong No.8, picked up the ball and, instead of going on the far side as No.8s tend to do, he came back on the left of the Sharks' scrum, running powerfully at an angle of something like 45 degrees from the scrum.

His angle of running took him beyond Peter the Referee, i.e. between Peter the Referee and the touch-line.

Justin the Scrumhalf was now coming across to cover. He made contact with Peter the Referee and went to ground. Peter the Referee tottered slightly but retained his footing and watched McLeod-Henderson surge over for a try, which he awarded.

Justin the Scrumhalf discussed the matter with Peter the referee.

There are laws governing contact between a player and a referee - laws which have become progressively more sensible.

In 1885, the Law read: The ball is dead whenever it touches and Umpire or Referee, and a scrummage shall be formed forthwith at the spot where the touching occurs, but it is not dead simply because a player holding the ball touches an Umpire or Referee.

Umpires were then done away with and the referee became the active sole judge of fact and law. That was in 1892, and the law was changed. It now read that the referee had to carry a whistle and blow it if the ball or a player running with the ball touch him.

In 1905 the law said the referee had to blow his whistle if the ball or a player running with the ball touch him, in which case it shall be scrummaged at the spot.

In 1911 this got a note: A player crossing the opponents' goal line with the ball in his possession and then, before grounding the ball, touches the referee, should be allowed a try at the spot where it touched him.

The note also governed the case of the ball touching the referee and a defending player touching the referee when in possession of the ball.

That, materially, is how the law stayed for years and years - until 1958 in fact, when the words were added: unless the referee considered that neither team has gained an advantage in which case he shall allow play to proceed.

Law 6.11 now reads:

(a) If the ball or the ball-carrier touches the referee and neither team gains advantage, play continues.

(b) If either team gains an advantage in the field-of-play, the referee orders a scrum and the team that last played the ball has the throw-in.

(c) If either team gains an advantage in in-goal, if the ball is in the possession of an attacking player the referee awards as try where the contact took place.

(d) If either team gains an advantage in in-goal, if the ball is in the possession of a defending player the referee awards a touch-down where the contact took place.

That's it. Nowhere in those laws is there any mention of contact between a player not in possession of the ball and the referee - between Justin the Scrumhalf and Peter the Referee.

That is just a matter of hard lines. Even if Peter the Referee had stopped Justin the Scrumhalf from getting to McLeod-Henderson, there was nothing Peter the Referee could do about it.

Think about it. Just imagine how open the gamesmanship there would be if the referee were obliged to stop play if he were in the way of a defender who was trying to get to the ball carrier. Banging into the referee would be a much softer option than tackling a hardened player!

Even in this case it looked a bit suspect. It looked as if Justin the Scrumhalf was actually running behind Peter the Referee's back and was clear of him. It then seemed that the player grabbed the referee's arm, tugging at it. The player went to ground and the referee tottered - but in fact the player's path to the ball-carrier was not impeded.

So it looked.

Peter the Referee was 100% right in awarding the try.