New Zealand coach Graham Henry said the right decision had been made when a try by his team was disallowed after a TMO review during Saturday's 5-18 Tri-Nations defeat against South Africa - even though it was technically outside the rules.

With the All Blacks trailing 5-15 seven minutes into the second half, fullback Israel Dagg made a 60-metre dash which was stopped just short of the line when he was tackled by replacement wing Francois Hougaard.

Dagg managed to offload to scrumhalf Jimmy Cowan, who dived over but replays showed the pass was forward.

Irish referee George Clancy asked South African TMO Johann Meuwesen to rule whether a try had been scored.

Meuwesen responded that the ball had been grounded correctly.

Then he asked: " Do you require any information before the goal-line?"

When Clancy replied positively, Meuwesen said: "There was a forward pass."

Henry said: "It was a reality, it wasn't awarded. If we were on the receiving end and South Africa scored a try that was disallowed because of a forward pass we would be happy about that.

"If the officials can make good decisions on the evidence they've got, why not?

"I know it's outside the rules of the game - they should only adjudicate over the goal line - but I don't have a problem with it."

AFP