Head of match officials Tappe Henning says the Vodacom URC’s new TMO system is the way forward for the game.
The newly introduced independent process operated for the first time in round one of the competition last weekend.
Explaining how it works, Henning said: “While the game is running live, we now have the opportunity to look at all the camera angles provided by our broadcasters.
“We have a technical operator who sits next to the TMO to support him. Independently from the broadcaster, they find the footage to look at instances where there is a suspicion of foul play, and also when there was difficulty for the match officials to observe incidents live and make accurate decisions.
“Previously, we were dependent on the broadcaster to rewind and replay incidents for us to review. We are now in a place where we don’t have to bother the broadcaster with that. We can independently look at it in the background and find the key angle that we can put in front of the referee on the big screen to make an accurate decision.
“We have done a lot of training with our TMO group in the usage of the technology. The process is now much quicker for us.
“After round one, we are pretty excited about where we can go with this process and what it offers to us as a competition. There were some growing pains we had to deal with in the background, but there were some good solutions found.”
Speaking during a URC media round table, Henning added: “It’s never the intention for the TMO to make the decisions. It’s still for the referee to make the decisions, but we can support the referee in making accurate decisions, which is hugely important for the game. It is the way forward. This is where the future lies.
“The game has become very challenging for individuals to make accurate calls. It’s faster, quicker, the teams are smarter, and they play the boundaries smartly. For an individual to deal with everything that happens on the pitch is almost impossible. So, support for accuracy of decisions is important.
“The whole world sees that something has happened. Unfortunately, at that moment, the referee might not have sight of it, such as a knock-on that leads to a crucial try which changes the score in a game.
“Why can’t we help the match official to also see what the rest of the world is seeing? It doesn’t make sense to people watching the game if they have access to information that the referee didn’t see properly or was unsighted for.
“The way forward and the expectation of the professional game is to be as accurate as we can and if we can apply technology to bring fairness and accuracy to our game, I strongly believe that is the right direction to go.”
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The South African former Test referee pointed to the disciplinary incident involving Cardiff centre Ben Thomas at the Arms Park on the weekend as an example of how the independent TMO process operates.
After a number of different replays were reviewed, Thomas was handed a yellow card for a dangerous clearout which involved contact to the head of Lions scrumhalf Nino Steyn. That saw the Taine Basham try which followed the clear out disallowed, while Thomas’ card was upgraded to a 20-minute red on review.
At his subsequent disciplinary hearing, the Cardiff playmaker was suspended for three weeks, a sanction which will be reduced by a week if he completes the World Rugby coaching intervention programme.
“That was a very good example of where the key angle which decides the decision was found after three or four replays from the other camera angles,” said Henning. “The time it took to get the key angle on screen, we can improve on that to make it more fluent and quicker.
“In this instance, there was time to show that the player was trying something legitimate and legal to clear out, but then at the last moment, it didn’t go well for that player in his attempt.
“That’s a very good example of what this process is all about.”
On average, around eight to nine camera angles are available to the officials at each URC match.
Photo: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile via Getty Images
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