Referee Luke Pearce speaks to Peter O'Mahony of Ireland during the Autumn Nations Series match between Ireland and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
Referee Luke Pearce speaks to Peter O'Mahony of Ireland during the Autumn Nations Series match between Ireland and New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.
OPINION:
At some stage between now and the next World Cup, the hierarchy among test match officials needs to be clarified.
The chain of command has become blurred to the point of being confused after another weekend of test matches saw Television Match Officials thrust themselves into the drama byseemingly taking control of all the big moments that mattered.
It's been this way all year, certainly since the Rugby Championship where often the most intense fight was the battle of wills between the referee and the TMO.
How often did we see an act of foul play reviewed multiple times, the TMO, trying to talk the referee out of their original decision and impose their will in the vein of Lady Macbeth?
It became farcical at times, some referees holding their ground and backing their judgement and others being persuaded to flip on the advice of the TMO.
In Dublin last weekend, TMO Tom Foley wasn't prepared to wait for referee Luke Pearce to seek his advice and instead took it upon himself to proactively present evidence that had never been asked for.
No one wants a return to the bad old days when there was no process for referees to check they hadn't missed anything glaring in the immediate build up to a try - a forward pass, an obstruction or a knock-on.
Goodness knows there was nothing more frustrating than seeing a game swing or be won on the back of something outrageous that the referee somehow didn't see and it always made sense to empower the TMO as a back-stop – an all seeing pair of eyes to wind the footage back two phases prior to the try being scored to check everything was fair and above board.
It's also appropriate for the TMO to have the power to draw the referee's attention to foul play. The game is played at such a speed now and with bodies flying in from everywhere, those inclined to dabble in a bit of off the ball thuggery can still easily escape the referee's attention.
Again, the intention of giving the TMO jurisdiction over foul play was to ensure clear and obvious offences don't go unpunished.
The intent was never to empower the TMO to forensically analyse every act on the field and pro-actively search for anything that could be deemed against the rules when viewed multiple times in painstakingly slow motion.
That was never the deal and there needs to be action taken to reset and redefine expectations about the role of the TMO and stop this takeover by stealth which has occurred.
Referee Luke Pearce during the Autumn Nations Series match between Ireland and New Zealand at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo / Getty Images.
The good thing about the test in Dublin was that Pearce, who is fast-tracking towards becoming the game's best referee, got everything just about right.
He chalked off Ireland's first half try for a double movement by Andrew Porter in the build-up and he correctly ruled that Rieko Ioane had thrown the ball forward to brother Akira on his way to crashing over the line later in the game.
Technically, he didn't make those decisions himself but after inviting feedback from Foley. But Pearce was strong enough and assured enough to view the evidence as part of a committee but assign himself the responsibility for making the final decision and it was one the best refereeing performances of the season.
What wasn't so great about the test was the overwhelming sense that Foley wanted a greater role than the one he had been assigned and that Ireland's players, to a man, felt a relentless need to pressure Pearce.
By the end of the first half, it felt as if the Irish were aware that if they gesticulated wildly after every collision, they knew Foley would feel compelled to investigate.
The behaviour of the Irish players and the constant intrusions by Foley all added to the confusion as to who was actually in charge and whether rugby, without quite acknowledging it, has effectively decided to depower the referee and put control almost entirely in the hands of the bloke sitting in a command centre, watching a wall of screens like a James Bond villain.
As always what made it yet more confusing was that old devil inconsistency. There was a detailed investigation into whether Codie Taylor had clocked Sexton in the head – an inquiry that the Irish players managed to instigate by being incensed that Pearce had not initially seen it.
And yet there was no TMO intrusion when Jordie Barrett was tackled in the air – an act that may or may not have been worthy of further sanction but was certainly worthy of further investigation.
Right now, fans are so confused that they probably don't care whether it's the referee, the TMO or Sexton in charge, just as long as it's made clear who is.
