TMO Guidelines:
Cannot alert the referee to stop play for anything except foul play. The referee may ask the TMO to check something in the in goal as a try is scored, but the TMO may not request it.
Cannot rule on anything in the main field of play except possible red card offences. Can't rule on forward passes in the lead up to tries, can't rule on knock ons in the lead up to tries, I don't care, I accept that mistakes will be made.
Procedural / Law Changes that would reduce ambiguity and contentious decisions:
- Red Card must be clear and undebatable first contact to the head. The definition should include clear and undebatable. The instant it appears as though the contact could have been at the same time or after lower contact it is immediately lowered to a yellow card. This reduces red card offences to the very clear and actually dangerous head hits, like the SBW 2017 Red Card. It would make the Marike red a yellow
- Lineout not straight can only be called if the opposing team contests the lineout - ie they were denied a fair chance of competing
- open slather on deliberate knock downs. They're too controversial, too subjective, and frankly too much of a non event to stop the game for. Someone got in the way of the pass, the end.
- reset clock for scrums. Should take 20 seconds max, some resets take 45 seconds which is just appallingly slow. Some people say 20 is unreasonable, I don't agree. You will regularly find old games where the reset takes 12 seconds, even less. The players are fitter and stronger now and the delay is gamesmanship.
Final point - the constant stop start nature and extended period where decisions are reviewed and made leads to a huge focus on the decisions - because we're spending heaps of time watching decisions be made, not rugby! Making the game faster and move along quicker actually takes the focus off of officials mistakes and makes people talk about rugby, not the officials
.