Chris O'Connor
Player Valuation: £35m
Were England robbed at Twickenham today?
Minute from the end a hair-line call by TMO Marius Jonker denied them what looked to be a legitimate, match-winning try from Sam Underhill five minutes from time, they had great value for money.
(TMO stands for television match official - rugby's third umpire or VAR official)
The call went against Courtney Lawes for offside as he blocked a kick by TJ Perenara on the 10-metre line. At best, it looked a tight decision, too tight for the circumstances, and England had every right to feel aggrieved. The attacking team should surely have the benefit of any doubt. World Rugby had issued a directive only two days earlier instructing the referee to take the initiative on big decisions and use the TMO for guidance. Jerome Garces abrogated that responsibility. Matches should not be decided like this, on marginal interpretations. It was a gaffe.
I noted the TMO who made the call in the England New Zealand game was none other than our old South African friend Marius Jonker.
Is it just possibly the case that he could have been swayed just a tiny bit by an overwhelming feeling of real bitterness, especially considering how his own country's team lost out to England in a last minute controversy last week, and how they were so upset by a late TMO's decision going against them then?
The answer to that might rhyme with TESS
(The link is under a paywall but i have printed the relevant bit from the report above)
://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/11/10/englands-disallowed-try-tight-circumstances-have-every-right/
Minute from the end a hair-line call by TMO Marius Jonker denied them what looked to be a legitimate, match-winning try from Sam Underhill five minutes from time, they had great value for money.
(TMO stands for television match official - rugby's third umpire or VAR official)
The call went against Courtney Lawes for offside as he blocked a kick by TJ Perenara on the 10-metre line. At best, it looked a tight decision, too tight for the circumstances, and England had every right to feel aggrieved. The attacking team should surely have the benefit of any doubt. World Rugby had issued a directive only two days earlier instructing the referee to take the initiative on big decisions and use the TMO for guidance. Jerome Garces abrogated that responsibility. Matches should not be decided like this, on marginal interpretations. It was a gaffe.
I noted the TMO who made the call in the England New Zealand game was none other than our old South African friend Marius Jonker.
Is it just possibly the case that he could have been swayed just a tiny bit by an overwhelming feeling of real bitterness, especially considering how his own country's team lost out to England in a last minute controversy last week, and how they were so upset by a late TMO's decision going against them then?
The answer to that might rhyme with TESS
(The link is under a paywall but i have printed the relevant bit from the report above)
://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/11/10/englands-disallowed-try-tight-circumstances-have-every-right/
