At the heart of numerous debates, discussions and controversies throughout the last World Cup – particularly during the final stages – refereeing has been talked about a lot in recent weeks. A few days after South Africa’s coronation, former international referee Nigel Owens, who officiated for 17 years at the professional level and notably officiated the 2015 World Cup final, shared his impressions on the current arbitration in a column published on Wales Online.
In his column, the Welshman first defends all the referees who were victims of criticism, insults and threats during the World Cup, in particular Wayne Barnes, the referee of the final: “Nothing justifies the amount of abuse of which he has been a victim in recent days, particularly around death threats. This is simply and totally unacceptable. He is a first class referee and a person who has brought the best to this sport for almost 30 years. »
“Rugby is at a crossroads”
Above all, he considers that a recurring problem in arbitration is “technology and the bunker”. “It just feels like the TMO is refereeing the matches at the moment and it’s not good. Your witness is on the ground and should be making more important decisions. Between the officials on the field, the TMO and the bunker, you had (during the World Cup) six people with a point of view or an opinion on a decision. “Too many cooks in the kitchen” (English expression) has never been more true. (…) Overall, technology is used way too much in the game. TMO should only be used as a last resort. Personally, I would reduce their powers and only use them to verify the act of scoring a try, as was the case a few years ago. »
He also acknowledges other inconsistencies around refereeing, saying “rugby is at a crossroads” and that “three major issues need to be addressed” by World Rugby to advance the sport. In addition to the first which concerns the bunker, he also questions the refereeing of head impacts – several of which have been punished with a red card, others with yellow cards and still others have not. not been – and on the rule of goal kicking when a player enters the goal without scoring, which according to him favors the defense, while “that is not the aim of the game”.
