TMO against foul play
The International Rugby Board will, apparently, experiment with widening the television match official’s powers to enable the man with the video to help in combatting foul play. This is according to a report in the Otago Daily Times, though it is a long way from being official or structured.
The newspaper quotes Paddy O’Brien, the IRB’s referee manager, speaking at a lunch in Queenstown on New Zealand’s South Island, as saying that trails would be made which enabled the TMO’s jurisdiction to be extended beyond just the ingoal area to other points of a game – for example, in the lead-up to tries and where foul play was involved.
This experiment is likely to take place in the new year and use two of the world’s top rugby competitions – the Heineken Cup and the Super 15. The TMO could advise the referee on foul play which could result in yellow or red cards.
O’Brien is reported as saying that protocols around this have yet to be established, but it is likely to be trialled in the new year. The method of application is thus still to be worked out.
André Watson, South Africa’s refereeing boss, welcomed the possibility of such a widening of the TMO’s scope of activity, saying: “It is good to use technology where it could be of assistance and I support it 100%.” But he was cautious in what he said as the situation is still vague as there were still decisions to be made, for example which Southern Hemisphere tournament would be used for the experiment. Watson said: “There must still be decided what tournament in the Southern Hemisphere the new technology will be used in, but hopefully it’s in the Super Rugby tournament.”
While he welcomes the use of technology, Watson warned: “I fear that most people won’t realise that it won’t be infallible.”
The modus operandi is unsure but there are two possibilities or a combination of the two. The first option is for the referee (or assistant referees) to decide when he would want to refer possible foul play to the TMO, while the second option would be for each of the two captains to receive one referral per match.
Watson feels a combination of the two options could work. “One must remember that the captain can’t always see everything that happens on the field and won’t always be able to make a call to refer the incident.”
Watson added: “If a referee and a TV-ref both miss the incident, it will go by unpunished. “The use of it will also largely depend on the broadcaster involved and its ‘replay’ image.”
