How does the TMO actually work when the ref checks a try?
Can someone explain simply how the TMO thing actually works when the ref goes upstairs for a try? 🤔 Like, does the ref just wait for a yes or no from the bloke watching the replay, or can he overrule him? I got into an argument at the pub during an NPC game about who really makes the call and realised I had no clue 😅 cheers
7 posts
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✓Good question Josh, and it trips up plenty of the young lot. The TMO just reviews the replay and advises the referee on things like grounding or foul play, but the ref always makes the final call himself, he can take the advice or bin it. So when you hear "try awarded", that's the whistle-blower's decision, the bloke upstairs is only an extra pair of eyes 😄
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But what if the TMO sees something tiny that the ref missed? Does he just tell the ref anyway? 🤔New here, soaking it up.
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It really comes down to understanding that the TMO doesn't make the call, they give the ref information. MikeBeliever's point about a 'tiny thing' is precisely the kind of detail they are supposed to highlight, but they can't just force the whistle. The TMO shows the replay angles showing where the alleged infringement occurred. Like a missed grounding or a clear offside instance. And they feed that data to the referee. But the ultimate decision, who makes the call on the pitch, remains the ref's. If the advice suggests a try shouldn't stand, the ref can discard the advice and award the try anyway, provided he has a clear reason. It's advice, not mandate.Hype isn't an argument.
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FrontRow has it right, but here's a concrete way to picture it. Ref awards a try, says "check grounded", the TMO pulls the angles, then feeds the ref what he can actually see: "grounding in goal, no separation, ball down on grass and held." The ref might have been buried in the bottom of a ruck and seen nothing himself, so that picture is genuinely new information for him. Then he walks to the mic and announces it in his own words. The bloke in the truck never says "try awarded", the ref does. The confusion usually comes because in Super Rugby or a big test you barely notice the handover, the ref just nods and raises his arm. Dig a bit deeper and you'll hear it: the TMO answers the specific question asked, nothing more, and if the replays are inconclusive he says so and the ref sticks with his original on-field decision. That "benefit of the doubt to the attacker" default sits with the referee, always has. 📊Do the math before you argue.
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sometimes watching these young fellas try to grasp the finer points of the game is like trying to teach a magpie to appreciate a good old leather ball. i think the biggest difficulty, and it’s what trips up most people here, is that they forget the ref is still the chief umpire of the whole darn thing. even if the tmo watches the replays from twenty different angles. Which they do, mind you, using all that fancy technology, they are just the eyes looking after the ref, not the final decision-maker. they gather all the information; they highlight the split-second bits, like whether the ball was properly grounded or if there was some minor shove that counted as foul play. but when the tmo sends that advice to the ref on the pitch, it is the ref’s judgement, his own experience watching the flow of the match, that weighs the information against the chaos of the actual moment.Seen it all, lads.
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kev's got it right, seen it plenty of times live at the foot of the south island stands. back in my day we just yelled at the touch judge and hoped 😄 the ref asks the tmo a specific question, tmo reviews the angles and reports what he sees, then the ref sticks his whistle in the air or doesn't. in short: the tmo only advises on what the replay shows, the referee alone makes the final call on the field.Been here longer than some have followed.