No captain’s challenge
A controversial law innovation that divided fans and players alike during Super Rugby Aotearoa (SRA) will not be part of the new trans-Tasman competition.
The captain’s referral, that Crusaders skipper Scott Barrett criticised for slowing the game down too much, will not be part of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (SRTT), which kicks off on Friday.
A polarising rule change during this year’s SRA, the referral allows each captain one opportunity per match to ask the referee to have the television match official (TMO) check for an infringement in the lead-up to a try, or to review foul play.
Ironically, the decision to not allow it in SRTT comes less than 48-hours on from the Sevu Reece sin-binning that showed its worth in the SRA final.
Chiefs skipper Brad Weber successfully applied his challenge for Reece’s high tackle on replacement fullback Chase Tiatia that was initially missed on-field. Following a lengthy delay, TMO Brendon Pickerill reported back that the first contact was with the head and Reece was sent to the bin.
Despite the controversial nature of the captain’s referral in SRA, the reason it will not be used in SRTT is because it was not available in Super Rugby Australia.
New Zealand Rugby’s head of high performance Mike Anthony said it was important to ensure the laws used over the new six-week competition did not disadvantage players from either side of the Tasman.
‘‘New Zealand Rugby has trialled a range of innovations this season in Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa and we are reviewing those trials with a view to making some recommendations for future competitions.
‘‘For Sky Super Rugby Trans-Tasman we have agreed with Rugby Australia to stick to laws that were consistent across our respective domestic Super Rugby competitions, which in this case are the goal-line dropout and the red card replacement,’’ Anthony said.
The goal-line drop-out and red card replacement laws – that allow a player who has been sent off to be replaced after 20 minutes – will be retained as both were used in the respective Super Rugby domestic competitions.