World Rugby rein in TMO powers ahead of November tests

Getty Images
Jonathan Hunn4 October 2018

Referees in next month’s autumn internationals will be handed more control after World Rugby on Thursday morning agreed to rein in the powers of television match officials.

TMOs were introduced in 2001 and, while the number of mistakes made by officials have decreased significantly since, their influence has come under scrutiny.

Coaches have questioned cards given to players after TMOs convinced referees to change their initial assessment, while former players working as pundits have criticised the amount of time taken to make decisions.

World Rugby council member John Jeffrey said the trial meant the focus would shift back to referees during the autumn series, with TMOs restricted to checking for tries and foul play.

"In reviewing the current global protocol alongside the Super Rugby protocol, the group agreed that for this trial we should place greater emphasis on on-field decision-making, with the TMO role limited to try-scoring and serious foul play, while also removing the 'on-the-run' conversations between the TMO and team of three match officials," he said.

"While we hope that the revised protocol will have a positive impact in terms of time impact on the game and accuracy, as with any trial, we will undertake a full review after the November window before determining whether to proceed."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT