International Rugby Board facing a TMO problem that will not go away

The International Rugby Board is under fresh pressure to tighten up the protocols surrounding the use of television match officials following increasing disquiet within the game. Saracens’ chief executive, Edward Griffiths, described the current system as “a shambles” after a series of TMO referrals during his club’s extra-time defeat in Saturday’s Premiership final.

Griffiths said a majority of English clubs believe the current system is flawed, leading to situations such as Saracens’ Owen Farrell being awarded a try by the referee, JP Doyle, only for the score to be ruled out following the unsolicited intervention of the TMO.

The IRB confirmed on Sunday that Graham Hughes, the TMO involved, was fully entitled to recommend a review despite the referee having not requested his help and despite the fact that Doyle had already given the try.

Saracens, even so, believe improvements to the system are urgently needed. “Most teams in the Premiership would say the protocol has become a shambles. It’s almost make it up as you go along,” Griffiths said.

“Some referees use the TMO as a kind of ‘show me that again, please’ video operator. Others take instruction. Others take guidance. This sounds like sour grapes but it isn’t because this would be the case had the final try not been given.

“I’m not going to say it cost us the title but the protocol, for the good of the game, needs to be clarified. It’s not clear what the TMO says, who says it, when the referee is allowed to ask, when the TMO is allowed to ask. It just looks like a general hotch-potch. If you bring something into the game, it’s got to be decisive. In the old days the referee would have looked at what happened and made an educated decision. Would that have been any better or worse than what happened?”

There is no avoiding the increased power of the man ‘upstairs’ when an entire domestic campaign rests on the outcome of his verdict, as it did at Twickenham on Saturday. In the end it was entirely Hughes’ decision whether Northampton’s Alex Waller grounded the ball on the line in the final seconds after Doyle had declared himself unsighted. Had he made it? Had he dropped it? Would the cameras pick it up either way? Over to you, Mr Hughes.

It is not merely those with a Hertfordshire postcode who, given the less than conclusive footage, were uneasy about a title-winning try being awarded on the balance of probabilities rather than absolute certainties.

Even Waller’s team-mate, Courtney Lawes, was not entirely sure. “I had a pretty good angle,” he said. “I saw the ball go down and initially I was saying: ‘Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s a try.’ After a couple of [different] angles I was a bit like: ‘Ooohh,’ but then we finally got the decision. I didn’t have any energy left so I was just sitting down praying.”

Doyle, however, insisted justice had been done. “The whole point of the TMO is to get the big decisions right in the big games and that’s what happened,” the referee told Reuters. “It’s right that we take the time to get these things right and I think it fully justifies the use of the expanded TMO system.”

A lack of consistency, however, remains commonplace. If Alex Goode’s pass in the buildup to Farrell’s “try” looked forward, what about Luther Burrell’s in the lead-up to George Pisi’s try for Northampton? The latter ultimately could not be refereed because it was more than two phases back in the try-scoring move.

Given that the current global TMO trial is to continue throughout the forthcoming international window, there are bound to be further contentious incidents. The IRB is understood to be concerned that an excessive number of referrals is extending games unnecessarily but only this past week all international referees were reminded of the need for consistency during the June Tests.

31 May 2014, Northampton v Saracens

Owen Farrell’s 62nd-minute “try” is awarded by the referee, JP Doyle, only to be rescinded for a forward pass spotted by the TMO, who also approves a last-minute try for Alex Waller, above

26 Apr, Saracens v Clermont Auvergne

Last month the referral system worked in Saracens’ favour. Brock James was sent to the sin-bin and a debatable penalty try awarded by the referee, Nigel Owens, after lengthy examination of television replays.

30 Nov, Wales v Australia

Wales’s coach, Warren Gatland, criticised the referee, Wayne Barnes, after his side’s 30-26 defeat in Cardiff. Barnes took a crucial decision out of the hands of the TMO, ruling Israel Folau’s scoring pass to Joe Tomane had not gone forward.

24 Nov, Ireland v New Zealand

Ireland, who had never beaten the All Blacks, were 22-17 ahead with 30 seconds left only to concede a long‑range try by the replacement Ryan Crotty. After a lengthy TMO wait, the scoring pass from Dane Coles was ratified. Aaron Cruden missed his first conversion attempt but was allowed to retake it – successfully – after the referee, Owens, ruled that some Irish players had charged prematurely.

Article source: http://www.espnscrum.com/other/rugby/story/211697.html

International Rugby Board facing a TMO problem that will not go away