Pro14 games without a TMO? Inexcusable

THERE are no excuses for Edinburgh losing to Benetton Rugby. But, likewise, there can also be no excuses for the Pro14 league not having a Television Match Official at last Friday night’s Myreside encounter.

Every match in the English Premiership has someone up in the box poring over replays of try-scoring incidents or potential foul play.

Yet when a game in the Pro14 isn’t broadcast live on television there are no facilities for a fourth official off the pitch to make a ruling.

Two matches out of seven at the weekend — Edinburgh against Benetton and Dragons versus Connacht — didn’t have a TMO.

And that lack of a fourth official, inevitably, leads to controversy.

Jason Harries (pictured), the Edinburgh winger, was confident a video replay would have shown he had grounded the ball for a try against the Italian outfit. Irish referee David Wilkinson thought otherwise and, with no video of the incident, his ruling stood.

‘Before the game, we were made aware that there was no TMO,’ a frustrated Harries told Sportsmail. ‘I find it interesting that across the league, because it was not a televised game, we were not able to have the TMO.

‘As with decisions like that, it can come down to fine margins in a battle like that. When you have not got the TMO, it is on the call of the ref and sometimes they get it right, sometimes they do not.

‘I think I definitely got the ball down for a try. What the ref had seen was the ball come up after I had placed the ball down.’ Is it too much to ask for a level playing field in such matters? Every Pro14 match is filmed by the home side for training purposes. Surely an extra couple of cameras to facilitate a TMO wouldn’t be too much of a burden? The English top flight realised that five years ago and, after complaints from their member clubs, each paid a slice of cash to ensure there were enough television cameras to ensure video replays at every game.

Senior figures in the Pro14 are aware of the problem — and are acutely embarrassed about the inconsistency.

There is talk of moves to make sure a TMO is at every game from next season. Such a change would help the credibility of the tournament and can’t come fast enough.