Referees and their headbands

Those who have been to Newlands for the two matches in the tri-series will have seen the referees, Jonathan Kaplan and Mark Lawrence, wearing bands around their heads, needing only a feather to look like Redskin braves.

This is part of an experiment. Attached to the band on the side is a camera. The camera faces forward and so sees what the referee sees.

This is recorded in a hard drive on the referee’s back, which can be downloaded for assessment purposes of the referee’s performance.

It is at the moment only in a trial stage. It is likely that the attachment will change in position and shape to make it less obtrusive.

The use of the camera is seen as a training tool and could be used for simulated refereeing in the training of referees – where the referee sits watching a “match” on a screen and then makes his decisions, all of which can be monitored and tested.

There is also the possible use in a split screen, as occurs in grand prix racing. The TV viewer would then see the match and have the option of seeing a decision from the referee’s viewpoint. This could well surprise some people, for sometimes the referee sees more than the viewer sees, sometimes not as much. This could make the referee’s job and decisions more credible.

Clearly, this is in an experimental stage and will undergo changes and adaptations if and when it is to be more broadly used.