Will Genia's try was not enough to stop the Reds losing their grip on the Super Rugby crown when they lost to the Sharks © Getty Images

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Reds captain Will Genia said he was baffled that a clear try by Liam Gill had been ruled out by referee Jonathan Kaplan during the second half of his side's Super Rugby qualifier 30-17 loss to the Sharks on Saturday.

The Reds were losing 27-10 in the 56th minute when flanker Gill appeared to have grounded the ball over the line after the ball had been knocked loose following the initial attempt by wing Digby Ioane. However, rather than asking the standard, "try, yes or no?" or "is there any reason why I cannot award the try?" Kaplan asked "I would like to know if on the first grounding the try was scored?" As Kaplan's question referred only to Ioane's effort, rather than Gill's the Television Match Official correctly ruled out any score.

"I thought we scored a try off Gill's pick and go, but I don't understand how it wasn't conclusive," Genia said in the post-match interview. "I felt if we got that try we were back in the game - it's very disappointing to finish on a sad note like that."

A trial to widen the scope of the TMO's powers will begin in this year's Currie Cup in South Africa and will mean they can rule on incidents in the build-up to tries. The changes will also allow TMOs to advise on 'incidents and issues' over and above those requested.