Third umpire for rugby?
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SANZAR is planning to introduce a cricket-style decision review system into Super Rugby and the Rugby Championship in 2016 according to The Australian.
The Southern Hemisphere rugby organisation is locked into the refereeing protocols that will carry through to next year’s World Cup in England.
Once that tournament has been played it will be looking to bring in a review system which will help to reduce the number of refereeing howlers that are deciding the outcomes of games, Test matches included.
Irish referee George Clancy’s bewildering decision to give Springboks wing Bryan Habana a yellow card for a high tackle in the 66th minute of Saturday’s Test in Perth has come under fire and has been seen as contributing to Australia’s dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Argentina also were treated cruelly by French referee Pascal Gauzere in their Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks on Saturday when he wrongly disallowed a try to Leonardo Senatore after the Argentinian charged down a Ma’a Nonu kick, regathered and scored.
It’s precisely those sorts of bloopers that SANZAR is hoping to take out of the game in 2016 when it introduces a system that will allow each team to challenge decisions they believe the referee has got wrong.
Sources have told The Australian that SANZAR still is undecided whether to allow the captain or the coach to make the referral.
Under the new DRS system, referees would be required to make a ruling on every try or suspected foul-play incident at which point any side which felt harshly done by would have to decide whether to roll the dice and place one of their referrals at risk.
Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie cautiously welcomed the news of the SANZAR initiative.
“The only thing I’m mindful of is how much dead time there is in a game,” McKenzie said.
“If you challenge the call and get it right you can challenge again and theoretically you could have 20 challenges.
“People want to be entertained, they want to be kept entertained, they don’t want to be sitting there watching replays.
"I don’t know the solution but it is interesting they at least are having the conversation.”
The Australian
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