DEAN Ryan slammed referee JP Doyle for declining to use the television match official to check if Paul Warwick had scored a try at a decisive moment in the derby defeat at Gloucester.

With Warriors trailing 12-6 in the dying stages at Kingsholm, replacement fly-half Warwick spotted a gap, burst for the line and was engulfed in bodies near the whitewash.

However, the official decided it wasn’t a try without using the TMO to check and Worcester were subsequently turned-over.

After the game, Ryan admitted Warwick was short of scoring, but felt the chance was too close to call with the naked eye, so the game should have been stopped to check, which would also have given Worcester a five-metre scrum and a big opportunity to push for victory.

Ryan said: “It just amazes me that we were forced to play on with a ball over the line with about 20 people in a ruck and then to get turned over.

“The fourth official is there for things like that — you need to watch that back on a TV screen, then get your protractor out to see if it was over the line.

“So, for him (Doyle) to say he didn’t think it was over the line, was just appalling. That would have been a five-metre scrum and our chance to win the game.

“That is why I was annoyed. That was a pivotal moment in the game and those decisions are what the people are there for — to define that wasn’t a try with the naked eye at that speed was just ludicrous.

“For us to be forced to play on was just a shambles. We got turned over and never got into a situation to win the game again. That’s just wrong — we either had a ruck held up over their line or we had scored. It was within a whisker of the line and there is no way it didn’t warrant looking at with the TMO.”

He added: “I don’t think Paul made the line, but that’s not the point — it required a slide-rule to measure it and to do that with the naked eye is not right. He clearly got very close and it needed a significant look at it.

“It should have left us with a five-metre scrum, when we were dominant, and we should decide the game by those actions rather than not going to the TMO.”

The kick-off was delayed by half-an-hour in bizarre circumstances as the pre-match entertainment backfired spectacularly.

Teams of supporters from both sides, including one dressed as Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and another as Virgil from Thunderbirds, were battling it out to knock giant inflatable rugby balls between the posts.

However, this led to the crossbar being knocked down and the start of the match had to be put back while the groundstaff repaired the damage.