Matt Duffie was dead set robbed by the TMO

Let us take a moment to appreciate a cool try that was stolen from us, and will soon be forgotten forever.

On a crisp Sunday afternoon in Canberra, Matt Duffie scored a try so good even he didn’t believe it.

Midway through the first half of the Blues’ Round 10 game against the Brumbies the winger produced an Olympics-worthy leap for the tryline, dotting down just inside the corner flag despite being wiped out by the cover defence.

Duffie stood up and shook his head. He removed his mouthguard and appeared to say a word beginning with F and ending with ‘-UCK!’

The referee went upstairs to check the grounding with the TMO. The TMO took one look at it and adjudged the ball to have been grounded on the line. No try.

But some eagle-eyed viewers weren’t so easily convinced. They reached for their remotes and rewound, pausing at the exact moment the ball touched the turf.

What they discovered was shocking. Matt Duffie had been robbed.

I know the @BluesRugbyTeam won, but how is this a no try? ? Mickey Mouse TMO @SuperRugbyNZ pic.twitter.com/dTvuo1xFqv

— Alafou C Crichton (@phouzah) May 1, 2017

The flying 26-year-old, who spent the first five years of his career practising corner flag dives with the Melbourne Storm in the NRL, had in fact produced one of the greatest try finishes rugby union has ever seen.

There was easily 5mm of clear grass between the grounded part of the ball and the touchline. The photos don’t lie – unless they were Photoshopped, in which case… well played.

With the scores still level at 3-3 at the time of the (non-)try, it could have been a pivotal moment in the game. Fortunately for everybody involved – not least the TMO – the Blues eventually ground out a bonus point win, 18-12, so nobody really cared.

Soon this moment will be forgotten by all who saw it, and possibly even the bloke who scored it. For now, let us give Matt Duffie’s stolen try the appreciation it deserves.

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