Steward: Ref ‘bunker’ will stop red card chaos

ENGLAND full back Freddie Steward has backed rugby’s new ‘bunker system’ to prevent rogue red cards from ruining the World Cup.

Steward was sent off during England’s last Test against Ireland after colliding with Hugo Keenan, but his red card was subsequently rescinded.

A new review system will be in place for today’s game against Wales, intended to minimise the threat of miscarriages of justice. If the on-field referee is unable to determine whether an incident warrants a red card after two replays, they have the option to show a yellow card. A Foul Play Review Officer within the TMO Bunker will then have up to eight minutes to look at the incident in detail and determine whether the card should be upgraded to red. Steward said: ‘I think it’s a good step forward. Games are significantly affected, when it’s 15 versus 14 it’s a different game so if the wrong decision is made it gives an opportunity to correct that.

‘When a decision like that takes about five or 10 minutes out of the game, it’s not good for the spectators and it’s not good for the players to have that break. I think it is a really good initiative to keep the game flowing and ensure the right decision is made.’ Steward will line up against Wales’s Test centurion Leigh Halfpenny in Cardiff today. The 22-year-old revealed he has sought advice from sports psychologist David Priestley to ensure the sending off did not negatively impact his mindset. ‘We actually played at the Aviva Stadium a couple weeks after that incident with Leicester,’ said Steward.

‘I had done a bit of work with the psychologist and he said to me before the game, “Just go and stand where it happened, on that bit of turf and just replay it and park it”.

‘To be back in that same spot, it was so much easier to think, “It happened, deal with it”, and that was that.

‘Ever since then that was the line in the sand and it’s not really something I’ve thought about since.’

Hawk-Eye video technology will also be used to support refereeing decisions this weekend, as well as a shot clock that will be visible for officials and spectators alike. Coaches Steve Borthwick and Warren Gatland both held a meeting with referee Nic Berry on Thursday.