Proposed new TMO guidelines set to start

THIS weekend sees the start of World Rugby’s revised trial for television match officials.

The closed trial will revise the scope of the TMO in the November Tests hosted by Tier One nations with the aim of stopping excessive use that can affect the flow of a game.

One of the big changes will see ‘on the run’ chat between officials and the TMO removed, with the onus shifting more to the on-thefield referee to make decisions.

The full list of changes are set to include:

■ Try-scoring should be an onfield decision with the referee being responsible, but the team of four can all contribute.

■ The current list of potential infringements for which a TMO can be referred will be retained, but any referral needs to be prompt, clear and consistent.

■ The ‘on the run’ chat between the match officials and TMO for foul play will be removed with the onus on the referee, who should only refer to the TMO issues that are clear and obvious serious acts of foul play, including a penalty kick, yellow card or red card as a potential sanction in order to protect player welfare.

■ Match officials can review foul play up to when the game restarts, when a penalty is kicked to touch and when foul play footage becomes available.

The proposal includes live broadcast of the TMO in action.

The key objective of the review was to look at current practice with a view to cutting the time impact of TMOs while ensuring that accurate decisions are still being made.

Excessive dialogue between TMOs and referees has caused much annoyance to fans over recent years, with games often becoming stilted by long and regular breaks in play as referees consult the TMO over almost every big decision.

One incident saw Australian referee Angus Gardner send France’s Benjamin Fall off against New Zealand this summer with the help of the TMO, only for World Rugby to overturn the decision, saying that “the referee’s decision to issue the red card was wrong”.

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said: “World Rugby is committed to regularly reviewing our match officiating protocols to ensure that they are in the best possible shape to support accurate and consistent match official decision-making and uphold our player welfare focus without adversely impacting on the match.

“This TMO review reflects that commitment and I would like to thank everyone who participated in the process and look forward to seeing the trial in practice this November.”