Archive for November, 2009
Conrad Smith: “I’m not a fan of the video ref”
Posted by: | CommentsAnother weekend of rugby, and again we are talking about match officials, this time the Television Match Official (TMO), sometimes called the video ref.
When All Blacks centre Conrad Smith crashed over the line in the 62nd minute against Wales he seemed certain that he scored, but referee Craig Joubert decided to have the decision checked by the TMO. The decision came back as held up over the line, although the video evidence was decidedly inconclusive.
The man himself said after the game, “Yeah I thought I grounded the ball but who knows? I got up thinking they’d called a forward pass because that’s all the Welsh fellas were telling me, so I didn’t celebrate then they went upstairs… I’m not a fan of the video ref.”
“I’d love refs just to make the call. That’s a big part of rugby. But there’s a fair argument if they’re big calls in test matches and video refs can help them, maybe there’s a case for that but it’s out of my hands.”
Scraping the TMO is not really an option anymore, fans, players and coaches demand that the right decisions are made with regards to scoring and rightly so. However the current IRB protocol for how questions are phrased to the TMO and how the TMO responds to the referee are a bit lacking.
Smith’s non-try was an excellent example. It had all the initial appearances of a try from the body language of both teams but with doubt in the referee’s mind it was referred upstairs. Due to the sheer number of bodies around the ball, there was no clear grounding of the ball so the TMO was unable to give a decision.
So what’s a better protocol for TMO decisions? Personally I like the NFL system where referees make a decision on the field, then check the tapes for “irrefutable video evidence” for overruling their original decision.
This protocol sort of exists within the IRB’s frame work under the question, “Is there any reason I cannot award a try?” but this is only used when the referee is almost certain of a try.
Perhaps the IRB should trial an NFL style of system where referees will instead say, “I believe that a try has been scored, can you rule this out?” or, “I believe the players foot was in touch before the ball was grounded, can you confirm this?”
Of course no system is perfect, but surely the existing one could use a little tweaking.
Deans’ right with criticism of All Blacks’ tactics
Posted by: | CommentsFollowing his side’s 19-32 loss to the All Blacks in Tokyo, Wallabies’ coach Robbie Deans fired a stinging criticism at the All Blacks’ tactics, particularly while under pressure. Many in the New Zealand media has dismissed this as sour grapes from a man who now has a six match losing streak against the All Blacks, but an objective look at the game shows that Deans could be onto something.
“Can anyone tell me what the penalty count was?” Deans asked a packed press conference, more accustomed to asking the questions than fielding them. The answer was 13-9 in favour of the Wallabies, but that wasn’t the point Deans wanted to get across.
“I know of the first six penalties, four were in the red zone, and there probably should have been a couple of others when the ball was lifted out of rucks one metre short of the line,” he added. “That’s frustrating from our perspective, particularly when you play a fixture in Tokyo when we’re trying to promote the game… I don’t think it contributed well to the game today.”
The point that Deans was attempting to get across is that the All Blacks seemed to kill the ball almost every time they came under pressure. The video evidence is fairly damning, on the very first Wallaby incursion into the All Blacks’ 22, Adam Thompson flops over the ruck and kills ball, leading to Australia’s first points of the night.
Throughout the night Thompson and Rodney So’oialo spent more time flopping around on the ground than beached whales, frequently giving away penalties but effectively denying the Wallabies scoring opportunities. Only Thompson earned the ire of referee Mark Lawrence but after a brief admonishment, it was back to business as usual.
While this turned out to be a good tactic, and went a long way to securing the win, it is a high risk approach to the game. In a game controlled by a referee less lenient than Lawrence, Thompson and So’oialo could easily have been on the receiving end of yellow cards.
Perhaps most worrisome is the defence of this tactic by All Blacks’ assistant coach Steven Hansen. “It was a very contestable game at the breakdown and when you get games like that you’re going to get penalties, and get people off their feet,” Hansen said, “Both sides were guilty of it, as the penalties on the scoreboard showed.”
That may be the case, but referees will pick up on this and should Craig Joubert police this area more strictly that Lawrence this weekend, yellow cards could hold the key to Wales’ first win over the All Blacks in 56 years.
