Passive scrums were forced upon the match after 63 minutes of play after France U21 were unable to cover a second injury to a front-row player. With a number of five metre scrums awarded during the second half, Wales U21 were put in a variety of suitable positions to attack French possession, however, with the passive scrums rule applied to the match the advantage of the attacking options were effectively nullified. The Welsh Rugby Union opted to complain that France U21 breached law 3.5(d) in the match and put the complaint to the Tournament Disputes Committee.
The Committee met at the IRB offices on Tuesday 8th June 2003 to adjudicate on the dispute. Under the Chairmanship of Noel Murphy and in line with the procedures set out in the IRB U21 World Cup tournament manual, the committee upheld the complaint made by Wales U21 and found that France U21 had breached rule 3.5(d), namely the failure to provide a suitably experienced player to cover as a replacement for injuries to two front row players.
As a result of this breach and consistent with the options available to it, the Committee decided that the result of the match should be overturned and recorded as a victory to Wales U21.
