VIDEO: Jaco Peyper opens up on TMO controversies
World Rugby is proactively working on improving the quality of television match officials.
This was revealed by Springbok laws advisor Jaco Peyper, who acknowledged the controversy around TMO rulings, but said the issue lay with decision-makers rather than the system itself.
“The protocol is not broken,” Peyper told a broad-ranging media briefing at Springbok HQ at Plattekloof in Cape Town, adding: “We have to invest in the individuals [in the system].
“There’s a bit of work to be done there [with the personnel].
“Not just for World Rugby, also for the South African Rugby Union, URC, Champions Cup, to make sure we keep people like Wayne Barnes or Nigel Owens in the game.
“Why are they leaving? Why are the best decision-makers not transcending into the TMO box?
“The biggest decisions that are made involve TMOs, high-impact decisions – try-scoring, cards, those issues.
“World Rugby is looking into how it can invest in the system.
“The system is not broken. It is more the people in the system.”
* (WATCH as Springbok laws advisor Jaco Peyper explains what is wrong with some of the more controversial TMO rulings…..)
Peyper also revealed that the status quo will remain for red cards, with a full red card (no replacement allowed after 20 minutes), will be for non-rugby incidents – kicks, bites, gouging, punching and spitting.
Turning to the issue around scrums and questionable rulings, Peyper pointed out that a decade ago, the set-piece was the most challenging aspect of the game to officiate.
“There were too many moving parts and different opinions,” the retired World Cup referee, Peyper, said of the scrums.
New Zealander Mike Cron, one of the most successful coaches, having coached with the All Blacks for more than 200 games, including the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, is credited with sorting out the mess around the scrums.
“He took 50 [scrum] laws and broke them down to three steps,” Peyper said.
“If you coach to it [the three steps], play to it and referee to it, the scrum has become so much easier for all.”
The Bok assistant feels the maul is now an aspect that needs the spotlight to be shone on it.
Peyper confirmed that no fundamental law changes are imminent.
“There will be slight tweaks,” he said, adding: “We must keep making the game better, but we have to keep rugby’s identity.”
At a World Rugby Shape of the Game conference in London, decision makers resisted moves to reform or replace the scrum, stressing the need to protect rugby’s core identity.
“The consensus was we have to keep the identity of rugby,” Peyper said.
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