Nigel Owens highlights key problem in rugby that will keeping causing controversy
Latest posts by Will Matthews (see all)
- Racing 92 target Ireland international to replace Siya Kolisi - October 1, 2024
- Ireland name team for Emerging Tour opener against the Pumas - October 1, 2024
- “I split him open” – Johnny Sexton recalls fight with Irish teammate in new book - September 30, 2024
Too much.
Former referee Nigel Owens believes the TMO is currently being “overused” in rugby and has called for officials to have more control.
When the TMO was initially introduced all those year ago its primary function was to decided if a try should be awarded or not.
But it’s had far more of an influence in recent seasons, and Owens believes this is having a negative effect on the game as a whole.
“If you look at rugby, the TMO protocol used to be pretty clear and strict – it was to be used only in the act of scoring,” Owens wrote in his WalesOnline column.
“You couldn’t use technology to go back five, 10 or even 50 metres, if not more sometimes, to see if somebody was onside or not. You couldn’t do that back then and as a result you didn’t have the amount of controversy we’re having today.
“Once you open up technology to all areas of the field, it’s just going to be inconsistent and bring controversy because whether we like it or not, in football and in rugby, a lot of it is down to the referee’s interpretation, their experience and their ability to make a judgement call.
“You just need to let the referees go out and do that. That’s the way to ensure you have your best officials refereeing games, as at the moment you have some refereeing at a level they probably wouldn’t be able to work at if they didn’t have the technology to make four or five decisions for them in the game.
“Reducing the amount it is used will help the performance of our referees. There are a lot of top quality officials out there and they need to be allowed to referee and make the decisions without relying on technology, which at the moment takes away from their performance.”
What do you think? Does he have a point?