Nigel Owens' questionable handling of the Sinckler incident wasn't the only example of ref inconsistency this weekend
Inconsistency between different referees is the bane of coaches – and supporters – rugby lives.
But with human beings rather than machines blowing the whistle, slight variations in how each individual sees the detail of a fast-moving sport is unavoidable.
However, as we approach the fifth World Cup featuring a TMO within the officiating team, surely it cannot be beyond the wit of man to establish and enforce a rigid protocol for its use? This weekend’s second round of Six Nations action has once again seen subtle variations in the use of the ‘man in the van’ which leaves the armchair fan far from clear on where the technology buck stops.
For example, during England’s demolition of France, Nigel Owens twice required Glenn Newman to check a decision and on each occasion ended his request by appraising the Kiwi TMO of his own real-time view of the incident in question.
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Owens’ equivalent of cricket’s ‘soft decision’ was twice proved correct – but despite this approach adding context to the decision-making process it is not one used by other officials on a regular basis. Similarly, it is far from clear if and when the TMO should take the lead and intervene should something significant be missed by on-field officials.
Two examples from Ireland’s win at Murrayfield illustrated the lack of clarity which exists in this area.
When referee Romain Poite asked Rowan Kitt to check a possible try for Scotland centre Sam Johnson, he immediately got the response: “I’m going to show you a forward pass.” This suggested the review process was already underway and that Kitt would proactively have intervened to point out the earlier offence had Poite not requested assistance.
However, when Connor Murray’s try was subsequently replayed during the half-time interval, the reverse angle camera clearly showed Peter O’Mahony obstruct Stuart Hogg in the build-up to the score. This replay would have been available to the TMO at the time, but was not brought to Poite’s attention and as a result the try stood.
Following hot on the heels of Liam Williams’ disallowed score in Paris last week – a decision which seemed to emanate from a giant screen replay plus whistling from the Stade de France crowd rather than an intervention by the TMO – to many observers it seems confusion currently trumps clarity in TMO use.
Simply put, World Rugby and its officiating team may be clear about how their TMO protocol works, but either this is not consistently being followed or it is not being clearly conveyed to those watching live or on TV around the globe.
And to pick up an earlier theme, once a process becomes technology-driven the latitude for forgiving human error is hugely reduced, which means the TMO must almost always get to the right call.
Unfortunately, this was not the case at Twickenham with Owen Farrell’s second-half try, since the discussion between Owens and Newman did not at any point consider that Jonny May held back Antoine Dupont on the ground.
Since the French scrumhalf was the nearest defender to the loose ball which Farrell pounced on, this was surely material to the situation under review? Even if Dupont seemed unlikely to get to his feet and beat Farrell to the touchdown, in law May’s actions were punishable by a penalty.
Away from the TMO, the question of non-standardised approaches was well illustrated by Owens’ handling of Kyle Sinckler.
The Welshman, who handled the 2015 World Cup final, is regarded as an outstanding communicator and manager of players, and this was clearly shown by the dressing down which Sinckler received for his attempt to belittle an opponent by administering a patronising-but-firm tap to his scrum cap.
Owens is in the twilight of his career, and having taken up the whistle as a teenager learned his trade in an era when the ability to manage players held the key to a referee’s performance level and career progression.
It is safe to say that 90 per cent of current referees would have handed Sinckler – whose inability to channel his fractious nature is a recurrent theme – a yellow card based on either his unsportsmanlike conduct or the slight tug he administered to the scrum cap.
Despite this weight of numbers, Owens’ preferred solution worked for him and had no material effect on the outcome of the match. But the fact remains that other – probably younger – referees would have handled it differently, and therein lies the consistency issue.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments