What rugby union can't admit to itself about TMOs and how the last two weekends proved it
Eleven-plus probability and elite-level test match rugby are unlikely bedfellows.
But for those gripped by the denouement of England’s truly thunderous test matches against South Africa and New Zealand, they became intrinsically linked.
The thing about a 50/50 call – even for us non-mathematicians – is that the eventual outcome is equally likely to go in either direction.
And over the course of two Twickenham Saturdays, that is exactly what happened to Eddie Jones’s team.
When the TMO was consulted on Owen Farrell’s overtime tackle on Andre Esterhuizen, he decreed that England’s flyhalf had made at least some attempt to wrap his arms around the South African. This rendered it legal and secured a one-point win for the hosts rather than the two-point defeat that a penalty award would probably have delivered.
Continue reading below…
Eddie Jones reacts after England loss to the All Blacks
Seven days on, the man in the TV van decided Courtney Lawes was offside prior to making the 75th minute charge-down from which Sam Underhill claimed a ‘try’ which would have put England a score ahead of the All Blacks. As a consequence, England lost by the same one-point margin.
Inevitably, criticism of the match officials has followed both decisions, since another feature of a 50/50 call is that half us disagree with the outcome. And since Jerome Garces’ coin fell against England at Twickenham, there is no prize for guessing how the British media typically viewed the Lawes decision.
One regular feature of this criticism is that the presence of the TMO should eradicate all errors. Put another way, these commentators believe hindsight, for the man in the TV van, should be an exact science.
But surely the use of technology over many years has taught us differently. While the introduction of the TMO, third umpire or video ref has largely eradicated the complete ‘howler,’ in less clear-cut situations it often shifts rather than resolves the debate.
So while Andy Haden’s match-clinching dive out of a lineout at Cardiff in the late 70’s would now result in a yellow card for gamesmanship and a penalty to Wales, we are still unclear whether Mark Cueto scored in the 2007 World Cup final.
To draw a parallel with cricket – where technology works with huge success – consider a situation where the umpire is unsure if a ball pitched outside leg stump in assessing an lbw appeal.
The TV company shades the stump-to-stump area on the screen, but the ball pitches on the edge of it. A zoomed-in view then shows the seam of the ball to be exactly down the virtual line drawn on the outside of leg stump. Is 51 per cent of the ball in the shaded area or outside it? Technology has not removed the debate, it has simply changed it.
Throw rugby union’s complex laws into the mix and this search for certainty becomes even more futile. Good refereeing, especially at the higher levels of the game, is much more about communication and management than minutely scrutinising a match for law infractions.
And this is possibly why the use of the TMO for 50/50 calls such as these does not sit well with many. When Jerome Garces asked Marius Jonker to take a look at the Lawes charge-down, he introduced – for the only time in 80 minutes – slide-rule accuracy to the decision-making process.
Was it a ruck or a tackle? Where was the offside line for non-participants? Did this line move before the ruck was over? Was the player at the front of the ruck (who creates the offside line) bound into it? When did the ruck end – as the ball emerged or when the scrum half lifted it?
There are so many law questions relevant to this decision, that making them with 100 per cent accuracy in real time is impossible. Critics point out that this was also the case at every other breakdown throughout the match, but given the pivotal nature of this particular call, surely Mr Garces had every right to seek assistance?
A number of highly-respected journalists, including the two biggest names writing in the British broadsheets, strongly disagree with this opinion. They believe the referee should have gone with his gut instinct, backed his judgement and awarded a try, since there was no clear and obvious infringement.
However, which of us can honestly say we would not have used an available safety net at such a crucial moment? Why risk being proven wrong by a subsequent TV replay?
While continually seeking to review and improve the use of technology is entirely logical, our sport has to be very careful about how this is done. We have to move forward, develop and evolve, not take a backward step by reducing the referee’s ability to enhance his decision making.
As the same teacher who explained probability to me many moons ago liked to say, the toothpaste cannot go back into the tube.
Comments on RugbyPass
Je 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
25 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to comments