BBC Sport Rugby Union: Nigel Owens Urges World Rugby to Reconsider Overuse of TMO Technology
Former international rugby referee Nigel Owens believes the video review system, known as the Television Match Official (TMO), is currently being “overused” in the sport. Owens, a well-respected figure in the game, has called on the governing bodies, including World Rugby, to address this issue.
Owens explains that the development of the TMO process over the years has complicated matters for match officials. Initially, the TMO was only used to review try-scoring incidents, but its scope has since expanded to include foul play and the build-up to tries.
The Welshman argues that when the margins are so tight, the increased use of technology is bound to create more controversy in the game, as more decisions are being made away from the field of play. Owens draws a comparison to the use of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) in football, stating that both sports have significant room for improvement in this area.
“If you look at rugby, the TMO protocol used to be pretty clear and strict – it was to be used only in the act of scoring,” Owens wrote in his WalesOnline column. “You couldn’t use technology to go back five, 10 or even 50 metres, if not more sometimes, to see if somebody was onside or not. You couldn’t do that back then and as a result you didn’t have the amount of controversy we’re having today.”
Owens believes that reducing the amount of TMO usage will help improve the performance of referees, as they need to be “allowed to referee and make the decisions without relying on technology, which at the moment takes away from their performance.”
The former Test referee suggests that rugby should look to sports like tennis and cricket, which have implemented video technology effectively, to find a way for the TMO to work in the best interest of the game. Owens hopes that his message will be heard by World Rugby and the relevant governing bodies, as he believes the current overuse of the TMO is causing more harm than good.
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