Modified video use must stay in place to avoid

match deciding mistakes

David Matthews has few doubts about the value of technology in rugby

Have you  had enough of reading about and listening to debates on use of the VAR (Video assistant referee) and TMO (Television match official), well this might finally do the trick? Football, even by its own standards of seeming unable to get anything right, has surpassed itself, whilst Rugby Union has kept the controversy rumbling on by producing a complete howler in the England v Wales match.

The extreme views tell us to get rid of both them and allow the referees, with help where needed from their assistants on the touch lines, to make the decision themselves. It has been proved that the finite nature of many calls makes it impossible to achieve accuracy using one look with the naked eye, though football could do with having another investigation into offside, one of the most difficult Laws in World Sport to comprehend.

I began eleven years of duties as TMO a long while ago, finally hanging up my microphone (complete with “you may award the try” programmed into it) five years ago, shortly before assistance on foul play was introduced. The technology had not reached the Premier League but was being used at International level; my first, of ten games involving national teams, was Scotland v New Zealand. Your input, at the referee’s request, was solely on tries scored, or disallowed, and kicks at goal - rarely used but sometimes less easy to judge than they first appeared. I would favour a return to this system with an amended clause on confirming foul play added. The stoppages do take up time, though not as disruptive to the game as in football. Funny, there are few complaints in rugby league.

A tale, emanating from the thirteen a side game, would have us believe that one senior referee once telephoned his wife, before announcing his decision, to ask what Eddie and Steve were saying about the ‘try’ on their Sky television coverage. When ‘in the van’ on League or Union  coverage, every attempt is made to prevent you from overhearing the commentary, nor is there any substance in the “he’s going upstairs,” a phrase which delights the pundits. As TMO you shiver in the producer’s van on the car park. One of two questions can be asked by the referee in relation to possible tries: “Is it a try, yes or no?” ((the request most frequently used), or “I believe a try has been scored, can you give me anything which proves otherwise.” The latter, from the TMO point of view, is the easier call as the referee has obviously had a good view of the action. Others, like the Welsh ‘try’ against England, are not as straightforward and you could be looking forever and not get it right, human error will always exist, in fact seeing the replay several times (unless a different angle is used) can sometimes make it worse. Normal speed is often useful, which is of course all you have in the vast majority of matches where the benefits of technology will never be seen.

While Football goes further into the mire attempting to improve their VAR system, Rugby Union carries on and the TMO can be rated a success- how often do you hear “how could that have been spotted without a replay?” It may well have been the case that “Video killed the radio star” - a hit by ‘The Buggles’ in 1979! But for referees in both sports it is for their benefit and they need to use  it sensibly, to  avoid errors which could settle the game.

DWM 09/03/18 (12)