Watson says sorry
André Watson, boss of South African referees, has written to the Blue Bulls and the Sharks to apologise for the long delays during their match on Saturday, created by the extended use of the television match official.
In his e-mail to the two unions, he says: “We at SA Referees would like to unequivocally tender our apology for the unacceptably long time the TMO calls took at the Currie Cup game last weekend. We have identified the problems and took the following remedial procedures:
“The Full time TMO’s were called for a meeting in Pretoria on Monday morning. A calibration exercise was conducted by Tappe Henning, myself, Neville Heilbron and Theuns Naudé with them. We have fine tuned areas and are confident that we have reached a better understanding of what we need to do.
“On Tuesday morning, we met with the Producers of Supersport and went through a similar discussion regarding speeding up the reply time and we reached agreement on processes that will speed up the TMO referrals without losing accuracy.
“In closing, we would like to state that the jury is still out on the experiment and that we are striving for a better product and outcome. It is an experiment (conducted on behalf of the IRB) and we realize that there will be some growing pains. We want to assure all that we are not simply sitting still, but took this on the chin and are constantly trying to improve on delivering an above average service. In fact, we are striving for excellence.”
In the match in question, stoppages reached roughly 30 minutes with just under 20 minutes taken up with referrals to the TMO.
Watson also said that referees should be making their own decisions and not using the TMO as a cop-out. He said: “Referees are sent onto the field with a particular purpose and that is to make decisions. Only in exceptional circumstances should they call in the TMO.”
He added: “It is no use for us to develop a generation of outstanding TMOs but just average referees.”
And: “Referees must not let players dictate to them when to consult the TMO about possible foul play.”
