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dasNdanger

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Resetting scrums, or myopic TMOs who can't figure out what happened on the pitch even after 20 replays from 11 different angles while everyone else figured it out on the first look?

And speaking of which - is it just me or are touch judges being used less and the video ref used more and more, like a crutch?

das
 
Resetting scrums, or myopic TMOs who can't figure out what happened on the pitch even after 20 replays from 11 different angles while everyone else figured it out on the first look?

Resetting scrums.

Why?

Because the clock is still running when scrums are being reset, but it is not running when the TMO is making a decision.

And speaking of which - is it just me or are touch judges being used less and the video ref used more and more, like a crutch?

Assistant Referees are often making the recommendation to go to the TMO, and often, you don't even know that because, while the Referee, the two ARs, the TMO and the 5th official are all miked up for TV games (they can all hear each other) we only hear the Referee and TMO feeds.

As for this extended TMO protocol I'm loving it. I don't care if the game lasts an extra 10-15 minutes, so long as we have a better chance of getting the RIGHT decision, than having quick decisions that are wrong!
 
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I hate the TMO extensions. In my mind it is killing the game as a spectacle - when we have to wait two minutes to hope to be at all excited by a try. Even for clear cut tries referees are showing no backbone - and it ends up going back to the other side of the field to check what a referee should have picked up the first time. I could live with the odd forward pass - even in 2007 - but right now I find the frame by frame check of possibly questionable moments to be farcical, especially considering some of the ludicrous calls they result in anyway.

I'd much rather referees backed themselves and occasionally got it wrong than the kill joy TMO protocols that currently exist. I wouldn't even mind if teams had say two challenges like in tennis, but with two assistant referees and one actual referees - they clearly have the most redudant jobs in the world. The only thing I like is foul play going up to the TMO, other than that if a referee misses a forward pass two phases back, that's his problem and should not be the teams.
 
With the Touch Judges and referees linked together with microphones/ear pieces their involvement isn't as obvious as when they used to come onto the pitch a lot, but I've noticed them still involved a lot, even if it's just hearing "Check forward pass" etc. over the commentary.
 
Resetting scrums.

Why?

Because the clock is still running when scrums are being reset, but it is not running when the TMO is making a decision.



Assistant Referees are often making the recommendation to go to the TMO, and often, you don't even know that because, while the Referee, the two ARs, the TMO and the 5th official are all miked up for TV games (they can all hear each other) we only hear the Referee and TMO feeds.

As for this extended TMO protocol I'm loving it. I don't care if the game lasts an extra 10-15 minutes, so long as we have a better chance of getting the RIGHT decision, than having quick decisions that are wrong!

And since last week during the RC the Refs got an extra right, to make a decision on-field based on what he sees on the Bigscreen. So basically the ref is now his own TMO. To me, this is a great idea, as the ref was in a unique position on the field when it happened, and based on what he sees on the bigscreen, he can now make a better decision, and quite possibly make the decision much faster than some of the nitwits in the TMO box...
 
I do think that TMO's take more time than necessary sometimes.
Look at how quickly they check things in league... it takes a few seconds, and the TMO actually talks you through what he's checking (at least they do in the CC).
 
I hate the TMO extensions. In my mind it is killing the game as a spectacle - when we have to wait two minutes to hope to be at all excited by a try. Even for clear cut tries referees are showing no backbone - and it ends up going back to the other side of the field to check what a referee should have picked up the first time. I could live with the odd forward pass - even in 2007 - but right now I find the frame by frame check of possibly questionable moments to be farcical, especially considering some of the ludicrous calls they result in anyway.

I'd much rather referees backed themselves and occasionally got it wrong than the kill joy TMO protocols that currently exist. I wouldn't even mind if teams had say two challenges like in tennis, but with two assistant referees and one actual referees - they clearly have the most redudant jobs in the world. The only thing I like is foul play going up to the TMO, other than that if a referee misses a forward pass two phases back, that's his problem and should not be the teams.

In our varsity cup tournament last year the captain had 2 chances to challenge a decision and have it referred to the TMO. If the decision was upheld the team lost one of their options to challenge. It really worked a treat and I can't understand why they don't implement it here. On average there was about 3 or 4 instances in a game and it was really all action from there. The action was helped on by penalties being 2 points and a converted try 8 points (conversion goal worth 3) by that they can keep IMO; deliberate infringements in the red zone is just too much of a have-to-do to keep the tries out.

EDIT; I do however like the tries being worth more in our lower leagues as it forces our player to learn how to score tries while the opposition try to spoil (and also teaches our players how to spoil effectively and get away with it which is something we aren't as adept at as other countries but we're getting there; last week our forwards as a group got away with illegally slowing down a lot of Aussie ball)
 
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I could live with the odd forward pass - even in 2007 -

Wow, really? I agree with some of the rest of your post but this is exactly why I like the new TMO rules.

Important games being decided by referees leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. There does have to be a middle ground though as waiting on decisions is a bit of an excitement killer.
 
I do think that TMO's take more time than necessary sometimes.
Look at how quickly they check things in league... it takes a few seconds, and the TMO actually talks you through what he's checking (at least they do in the CC).


I've noticed the quicker decisions in league, too.

As far as the scrums slowing down the game, maybe it seems that way on tv, but if I was sitting in the stands watching the match live, the wait for the TMO would seem far more 'wasteful'. At least when resetting a scrum the players are actually doing something, but when waiting on the TMO they're just standing around like NFL players, looking pretty and chatting up the water boys. ;-)


das
 

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