After the poorly refereed game last week, surely there is now a clear & present need to provide a mechanism by which the fairness of a game is guaranteed?
We already have TMO, by which certain referee decisions can be enhanced from reviewed video footage, but this is not enough.
The game is over, SA lost. But South Africans, and anybody who loves the game, are left with the nagging feeling that something is wrong. Did the referee accept a bribe for this game? You can't help but ask. Did the referee have a bone to grind with the Springboks? Was the referee suffering from some sort of mental illness at the time?
Or was destiny simply against us this time & it was our lot to play against 16 men that day?
Well, I don't know the answers to the previous questions. What I do know though is that I wouldn't like to see SA lose in that way again. I would stop watching rugby for about 18 months, seriously! It's a game in which both teams must play by and be equally judged by the same rules, just like any game. Otherwise it is no game, it becomes something else, maybe a bidding match.
No one person should have that much power over a game. Cricket & tennis have Hawk Eye and tennis the ability to challenge a decision.
My proposal is to introduce a mechanism by which the referee's decisions are held in balance, in which the teams have the power to challenge a referees decision(s).
Provide each team with 3 opportunities, during a match, to ask for a TMO decision over a referees decision.
Do you like our hate this idea?
