Wales fans demand match replay after controversial referee decision against Ireland

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The Irish No.8 — who had already seen a try ruled out earlier in the first half — powered over in the 44th minute, with referee Karl Dickson immediately referring the grounding to the television match official.

There were two key questions during the review: whether Conan had actually grounded the ball, and whether hooker Rónan Kelleher had committed an offence in the build-up.

After a long check, the try was eventually allowed to stand.

But speaking on ITV after the match, Brian O’Driscoll suggested Welsh supporters would feel hard done by the outcome.

“If you're Welsh and you're looking at this, you'd certainly think there's a cause for the TMO to interject,” he said.

“Lookit, it's Kelleher at number two — it's just the line that he runs and the defender that he potentially does take out. Is he in front of Jack Conan, who does eventually carry the ball?

“That angle is a bit inconclusive, there is one from behind. He just gets himself into the way of the block.

“I don't know if Eddie James is going to make the collision but he certainly isn't helped by being taken out by Kelleher. The referee said that he was level.

“If you're Irish you say he was level, if you're Welsh you say maybe he's marginally in front.”

Slow-motion replays from the spider-cam angle appeared to show contact that could potentially have resulted in a penalty, further fuelling the debate.

Former Wales fly-half Dan Biggar agreed with O’Driscoll’s assessment.

“Probably the frustrating thing is the TMO has had a really good chance looking at it,” Biggar said.

“It probably wasn't absolutely conclusive but I think you're right Brian.”

The decision — and Dickson’s overall performance — sparked plenty of reaction from fans online after the match.

One supporter wrote: “I just don’t think Karl Dickson is a good enough ref for the amount of games he gets.”

Another commented: “Karl Dickson has gifted Ireland the win. 12 points gifted from his PROFESSIONAL officiating.”

A third added: “Karl Dickson doing his best to hand this game to Ireland.”

However, not everyone was critical of the referee.

One fan posted: “That was a great hard hitting no inch given game of rugby. Wales unlucky not to get something out of it.

“Also Karl Dickson was on top of everything, best game I’ve ever seen him officiate. He also seemed to be really enjoying it out there.”