Why didn’t TMO and referee speak the same language
National coaches seem to have a hotline to World Rugby these days to air grievances, so if i was Warren Gatland i would be on the blower this morning asking why we need tMos from 12,000 miles away in new Zealand for Six nations games.
it played a big part in the controversial decision to disallow Gareth anscombe’s ‘try’.
i totally understand why we have an elite squad of refs who get selected on merit and essentially travel the world to officiate all test matches. that makes perfect sense and such are the complexities of rugby’s laws and their interpretations that players need to get used to how the game is refereed differently.
But the television Match official is a very specific technician’s job which also relies heavily on a close working relationship with the referee, the sort of relationship built up via years of doing big club and European matches together.
Each then knows what questions to ask the other, the tMo knows what the referee is looking for and each of them can recognise doubt in each other’s voices. the microphone is on constantly and they have to be careful, but they develop a verbal shorthand.
So why wasn’t the tMo French? Why wasn’t Jerome Garces supported by a tMo he works with most weeks and who speaks p the same first language. Under extreme pressure these things become ecome important.
there was so much uch to consider in terms ms of the actual al touchdown. Does s anscombe touch h the ball first? Yes, clearly.
But was it still in the air when he makes that touch? By the e time the ball was s on the turf, was as anscombe’s hand nd the only one on the ball or had anthony hony Watson made contact ontact too. Was thereere any pressure — and did the ball nudge forward?
there were a lot of nuances to discuss and it needed teamwork. at one stage Garces seemed to have difficulty in understanding or hearing the Kiwi tMo and i don’t recall him looking at the big screen either. Perhaps it was just too difficult to make out.
in the end it all seemed a bit rushed. i have no objection with tMos and referees taking all the time needed for try decisions. that is their raison d’etre: getting the decisions right at try timtime is 99 per cent of their job.
Wales were on the wrong end of a big call and i have no doubt a try would have been given if the game had taken place in Cardiff. England’S two outstanding forwards were Joe launchbury — who was my man of the match by a distance — and Chris Robshaw, who had another outstanding game. and all in front of lions coach Warren Gatland. that doesn’t make Gatland’s decision not to take them to new Zealand wrong but both players will have been quietly proud of their performances. it also reinforces my experience that there is often a price to pay when you have a big representation on a lions tour.
Selection is going with your hunches, your opinion, which is why i am surprised at Eddie Jones’s post-match comments over Mike Brown’s critics or those who have suggested that Watson or alex Goode could at least be tried at full-back.
Brown at his attacking best, which we have not seen for a long time, is in my team. He was good on Saturday as a defensive full back, rock solid under the high ball, and i totally get why Eddie displays loyalty to him but that doesn’t invalidate other opinions.
Brown hasn’t been the attacking force we know he can be and which any team aspiring to be world no 1 need. So just smile, Eddie, thank everyone for their ‘positive feedback’, move on and enjoy the win. SaM UnDERHill’S tackle to prevent Scott Williams scoring will be remembered for decades. it seems to have already taken on legendary status and rightly so.
never before have i seen a try prevented when a player running at full tilt uses the wet conditions to aquaplane in. Wales and Williams did everything right. they worked the four- on- two well, leaving Williams with a straight run to the line. i’ve heard it suggested that Williams started his aquaplane too early but i disagree.
the ball was very slippery, the only thing it seemed to me that could have prevented a score was for him to lose control in the act of trying to touchdown. By tucking the ball in and gliding in he was taking that risk out of the equation. He also had no reason to think a covering England defender was going to get across.
Underhill slipped at the start of the move and the key to everything that followed was the amazing way he bounced back up and sprinted out of the blocks to get across. i
had no idea he had such gas and nor, evidently, did wales. DROP goals again! They only ever seem to get a mention when somebody — Jonny wilkinson, Johnny sexton — lands a dramatic lastgasp kick to win a huge match but their value is far in excess of that.
They change the momentum of a game and force defenders to fly out of the line to try to stop them — opening gaps in the process.
england are perfectly equipped to execute these tactics with two playmaking kickers in owen Farrell and George Ford. They ought to be a nightmare to defend against.