The confused Wales v Scotland conversation that changed everything

It was the decisive moment of the Wales-Scotland match and it all hinged on a crucial conversation between referee Nic Berry and his TMO Brett Cronan.

With 67 minutes on the clock at the Principality Stadium, the sides were tied at 17-17 in what was a real cliff-hanger of a contest.

After Welsh skipper Dan Biggar had struck the woodwork with a long range penalty attempt, the home side regathered the ball, with Alex Cuthbert going for the try in the corner.

The TMO check on whether the winger had scored or not was to have crucial consequences.

Speaking to his countryman Cronan, Aussie ref Berry said: “On-field decision is a try, we have got a grounding, we just need to check touch.

“If not, we are going to come back because I was playing advantage for a knock-on from blue.”

That was a reference to Scotland fly-half Finn Russell having stuck out a hand to block a pass from Tomos Williams which was aimed at prop Dillon Lewis in the build-up to Cuthbert going over.

So, clearly, in Berry’s mind it was either going to be a try or a scrum for Wales.

After checking the replay of Cuthbert’s effort, Cronan said: “The player has clearly put his foot into touch.”

But he then critically adds: “So you need to go back for your penalty.”

Berry reacts to this by saying: “It’s not a penalty mate, I just had it as a knock on. Do we need to have a look at it?”

Cronan replies: “Sorry, we’ll check that now for you.”

Commentating for the BBC, World Cup final referee Nigel Owens immediately recognised the significance of what had been said.

“The TMO has just triggered something in the referee’s mind now,” said Owens.

“Was that knock-on deliberate or not?

“They will look at Finn Russell’s actions. Was he trying to make a genuine attempt to