As the discussion continues around the interjection of the Television Match Official (TMO) during the All Blacks’ loss to South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final, the most successful All Blacks head coach of all time, Sir Steve Hansen, has voiced his opinion.
Talking on Sky’s The Breakdown about the final, Hansen said: “As a spectacle, I was extremely disappointed.”
The 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning coach credits both sides for their efforts in the match, saying it could have gone either way, but that he feels the time has come to make a major adjustment to the way rugby is officiated.
“I know Wayne Barnes is copping a lot of flak and so forth, but he’s not the problem. The problem is the way we’re controlling the game. It’s being refereed on replay.
“It’s time to sack the TMO, get rid of it out of our game, except for when the referee asks is there any reason why I can’t award this try or is there any reason I should award this try?”
The four-time World Rugby coach of the year said union should take a leaf out of rugby league’s book when it comes to their bunker system.
“There’s so much for us to learn out of how the league guys are using their bunker system. Gone are the days where the referee has control of the game in rugby and we’re getting a stop-start, no flow. Fans are getting really sick of it and leaving in droves.”
Hansen says he could see the impact the disruptions were having on match referee Wayne Barnes and that he feels it is a wider problem in rugby, as referees are often interrupted by TMOs.
“I don’t think the referees are getting a fair crack. Barnes, you could see he was getting frustrated with the game himself.”
He says this is compounded by the fact that TMOs only interrupt play when they feel the referee has missed something, rather than to correct a perceived error.
“Here’s the other thing with the TMO, he only comes in when something’s missed. But if the referee gets something wrong, you don’t get him coming in.”
Hansen points to All Black Ardie Savea being penalised in the 17th minute of the final for not releasing as the tackler, when a later replay showed he had in fact given an opportunity for the ball carrier to present the ball. The Springboks kicked a penalty goal following the incorrect decision. Hansen says this would have been an opportunity for the TMO to step in and correct the decision.
“Ardie’s is a classic case and I don’t care if he [Barnes] didn’t see the replay, I did, and clearly Ardie had let go. Within the rules you let go of the player, he got back on the ball and he should have got a penalty, not a penalty against him.”
While Hansen understands that player safety is paramount, he highlighted the two major foul play incidents in the match that saw both captains, Sam Cane and Siya Kolisi, being shown yellow cards and Cane later being upgraded to red by the Foul Play Review Official.
He says when you have split-second adjustments to make on defence, sometimes it’s not possible to get your body position perfectly low and unintentional contact happens, which he says shouldn’t be judged as foul play.
“I appreciate we have to look after our athletes, but our game is a contact sport. When you’ve got a player in the best form of his life, Sam Cane, saying to you, ‘look I got caught out with a late shift’, he couldn’t adjust. Then you’ve got Kolisi, same thing happened to him. Two great players at the very best at the top of their game that can’t adjust, something changes [snaps fingers] like that, you’re going to have contact. Unintentional contact.
“To give that [Cane’s tackle] a red card - in my humble opinion - is just ridiculous, a, because it takes away the contest; b, because it’s not fair on the player that gets sent off because he’s not committing foul play.”
Hansen says there need to be adjustments made to the way rugby is refereed or the game runs the risk of turning fans away.
“Until we sit down at the very top and work out how we get some common sense into our officiating of the game, we’re going to turn people off watching by the droves.”
Will Toogood is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He has previously worked for Newstalk ZB’s digital team and at Waiheke’s Gulf News, covering sport and events.
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