New Zealand brings back TMOs
The New Zealand Rugby Union has decided to bring back the use of television match officials in its provincial championship, now called the ITM Cup.
The reintroduction of TMOs will see a sideline match official take on the role of TMO and have use of a television monitor for replays if required by the referee. Referees will be able to call on the sideline match official for a TMO decision. That official will have direct communication with the director of the SKY broadcast to get all the relevant angles replayed. The official will then use the RefTalk communication system to relay the decision back to the referee.
The match official with the TMO role will be appointed jointly by the provincial union hosting the match and the NZRU.
The use of TMOs in the domestic provincial competition was one of several initiatives affected by wide-ranging NZRU budget cuts in 2009, said NZRU general manager professional rugby Neil Sorensen.
Sorenson said: “This was one of the tough decisions we had to make last year, and the feedback from fans and Provincial Unions was clear – they wanted us to find a solution. Since then, we’ve been working with our broadcast partner SKY Television, ITM Cup coaches, and Provincial Union officials to find an acceptable and more affordable alternative.
“We’ve had great cooperation for the technical requirements from both SKY and Murray Tregonning and Associates who supply the RefTalk radio communications for our match officials.”
The previous TMO system required specifically appointed match officials to have their own technology booths at the ground along with additional match cameras. The new sideline monitor system is considerably less expensive.
The NZRU’s high performance referee manager Lyndon Bray welcomed the introduction of sideline TMOs as an added tool for referees.
Bray said: “We were delighted with the level of decision-making of our referees last year, and adding this solution in 2010 will allow them to utilise technology on those few occasions when they are completely unsighted.
“Those few occasions may be quite clear to everyone watching at home, but can be missed by the match officials if they are unsighted.”
